River of Kiwis now flood to Oz

Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, June 22nd, 2011 - 56 comments
Categories: election 2008, im/migration, national - Tags:

Well, the Government’s managed to set another record: 3300 Kiwis have managed to ‘catch up’ with Australia in a month.

That’s the new record for number of Kiwis leaving for Australia, set in May.  The previous record of 2900 was set in 1979.

And it’s not mainly Christchurch.  Christchurch contributed an extra 300 people over last May’s figures, but the rest of the country contributed another 1400.

Why are people leaving?  In despair at the lack of vision and economic plan of John Key’s government.  Because they see a better life in Australia, with higher wages and more opportunities.

I was fortunate enough to hear Rod Oram speak earlier this week.  He described the last budget as the worst of the 15 he has scrutinised closely since arriving in the country.

Why? Many reasons (over-promise & under-deliver, over-stating public debt problem, over-reliance on over-optimistic Treasury forecasts etc), but the biggy was the lack of forward-thinking.  There was no investment or plan for the future.  We need R&D and tertiary investment to grow the skills and ideas to increase our country’s wealth and generate the higher income, better jobs Kiwis want: both were cut in real terms.  There was no way out of the mire.

And that’s what the flood of Kiwis jumping the ditch see: no hope here.

We deserve better – a government with a plan at the very least.

56 comments on “River of Kiwis now flood to Oz ”

  1. Craig Glen Eden 1

    Posted this just last night:

    My best friend told me tonight he is off to Australia better paid job plus 9% employer contribution from employer, leaves in September family to follow in December. He does not want to leave but the opportunity is just to good to pass up given he cant get ahead in NZ.

    This guy is a CEO here but like he says National have no plan and Key is a total clown, its all turning to shit real fast in NZ so he feels he has to go, cant say I blame him.
    Reply

    • Colonial Viper 1.1

      It’s a real problem. Warmer, wealthier, more upbeat, and only 3 1/2 hours away.

      Why not, when you see how the Government is abandoning its own people to the vagaries of income inequality, free market forces and private sector profiteering.

    • Lanthanide 1.2

      Hopefully he’ll remember to vote in the election!

      • rosy 1.2.1

        Yes, I really hope Mana, the Greens and Labour are gearing-up to convince their overseas supporters to vote.

        • Colonial Viper 1.2.1.1

          A million NZ’ers living overseas, over half will be of voting age.

          That’s massive.

          • Hanswurst 1.2.1.1.1

            Well, this NZer living overseas will definitely be voting for the left – I’m even visiting again beforehand to renew my eligibility. I’m not going to be overseas forever, and I don’t want to come back to a country that’s been driven into the mud by the current stupid clowns year upon year.

            • Colonial Viper 1.2.1.1.1.1

              Exactly. The fear is that they will run down our health and education systems so much that its hard for any one to choose to live here even if they love the country.

            • HC 1.2.1.1.1.2

              Hanswurst – bring in skilled labour from Europe and certain Asian countries, let them make the products they make back there, with natural ingredients grown and produced here, let them create a trade where they train apprentices, where we learn how to make sausages like in Europe (Wurst part of your name well addressed, I hope), let them make excellent cheeses, wine, herbal products, honey, hams, sausages, pates, fish products and whatever else may come to mind, and we will have a fertile value added economy.

              But no, we must export more logs, milk powder, butter, wool, and whatever is produced in bulk and without refinement.

              That is the shit the wrong advisors told us in the early 1990’s . I remember well that American “expert” selling his book here talking about “cometitive advantages” and Shipley, Richardson and Bolger lapping it all up as the finest recipe for NZs future.

              Look at the world! Countries that serve tourists, that hold language courses for foreign students, that produce primary agricultural and similar products are amongst the poorer, less paid and disadvantaged societies.

              Those that invest in knowledge, skills and attract value added manufacturing are leading. We have been hoodwinked and betrayed into total ignorance and dumbness. That is why this country is losing its citizens and used by migrants as a revolving back door to better territories.

              NZ is screwed by repeated idiots running the show. Throw them out and bloody well revolt!

  2. freedom 2

    It would be interesting to see some accurate figures that show how many of the ‘from the rest of NZ’ were actually recently relocated residents of CHCH.  I suspect it is a lot higher than the 800 reported earlier today.
     

    • Craig Glen Eden 2.1

      Really freedom proud Cantabs calling them selfs Aucks?What a desperate attempt to try and blame the CHCH earth quakes for this Governments appalling performance.National totally bereft of any plan.

      • freedom 2.1.1

        i doubt it was the people’s decision as to how they were counted. I can picture the data collector ” most recent address only please, we don’t need to know your life history.”
        Actually a liitle amazed that the figure isn’t higher.  I am also considering relocating out of NZ if National get back in.  Not to OZ, there are other places in the world that are not little America yet. i cannot afford to right now but there are prospects being investigated.
         
        I was imagining what staying in NZ under another National Government would be like and i settled on looking into the barrels of a loaded shotgun and paying someone else to pull the trigger

  3. millsy 3

    To me that is jumping from the frying pan into the fire. After all, there are:

    1) Cumplosory super – meaning that you get 9% of your wages taken from you and given to a Gordon Gekko type who will lose it on the stock market

    2) No ACC – you have to fork out expensively for accident and health insurance etc with no assurance of payout – and their health system is pretty dodgy – you have ladies giving birth in toilets, and you still gotta get health insurance, or else you die.

    3) Everything is expensive, rent, houses, petrol, etc and so on.

    4) Toll roads galore

    5) The Labour party there is more right than our Labour party (and from my understanding, has been for the past 30 to 40 years)

    6) You cannot walk through Sydney without stumbling into the middle of a mob war (I dont mean pissy BP’s and Mongerel mob with baseball bats, I mean Italian and Lebanese Mafia with sub-machine guns).

    7) very corrupt cops – the cops own half the brothels in kings cross

    8) You lose your job, there is no safety net

    • millsy 3.1

      Oh yeah, and more Australians send their kids to private schools, so you have a country full of elite snobs, and its packed with rednecks.

    • Colonial Viper 3.2

      I can tell you that petrol in Australia is cheaper (at least in metropolitan areas) than in NZ. And that’s *including* our soft exchange rate.

      From memory it was ~A$1.60/L or thereabouts.

      Yeah there are a few issues though, no place is perfect. But you can overlook a few little things when you are being paid 40% more 😎

    • ghostwhowalksnz 3.3

      No the 9% is not taken from you- thats the employers contrib. Employees can volunteer another 9% or lessor amount.

      While there is no ACC for 24 hr coverage, employers pay ACC type premiums ( and employees can sue) and there is the vehicle ACC system like we have for motor cars

    • Deadly_NZ 3.4

      And what do you get if you are unfortunatly stuck in NZ?
      Kiwi saver Just made it more expensive to get the same money. May not be gambled by a Gordon Gecko type, But is robbed by a Blinglish type of incompetant.

      Sky Rocketing costs and huge waiting lists to get anything done in a govt dept, as all have been gutted.

      Acc??? A company who will wriggle and bluster and bullshit about the services they offer you, but don’t give them to you.

      Petrol at 2.07 and climbing???? food prices thru the roof, doctors with too big a list so that the poor and sick get poorer and sicker.

      Multi milllion dollar holiday highways that go nowhere.

      Gotta be better than the fuckwits in charge now.

      Napier and other places used to be the same Black power and mongrel mob wallys fighting and scaring little old ladies.

      And the cops here?? May not be corrupt, but they could not catch a burglar unless they pulled him over on a bullshit traffic charge.

      There are NO JOBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      So Millsy your beloved NACTS are just as bad.

      • millsy 3.4.1

        Whoa there Deadly.

        I think you need to up/down your medication, because last time I looked, I didnt ‘love’ NACT.

        I am just pointing out a lot of the downsides about heading to OZ, and the grass isnt always greener.

        Anyway, by the looks of things, the Liberal-National coalition looks like it could get back into power, and Abbot really makes Brash look like a Marxist.

  4. ChrisH 4

    I reckon the only reason people aren’t bailing en masse is because of the risk of ending up unemployed in Oz with no dole. That’s the trans-Tasman equivalent of the Berlin Wall, if it were not for that fact, New Zealand would collapse in the next three months.

  5. Peter 5

    The sad thing is most probably don’t want to leave but feel they have little choice.

    • Shona 5.1

      So right Peter. Those of us who worked in Oz in the 70’s and early 80’s then returned to NZ to invest and raise our families are now watching our offspring reluctantly repeat their parents experience. Because they simply can’t earn a living wage in NZ. They don’t want to live there but the advantages and opportunities are too great, We have failed the younger generations. I don’t want my grandchildren to be Aussies but it just keeps on happening . Any body with any get up and go has got up and gone!
      Key continues to successfully emulate his role model and hero, Piggy Muldoon.

      • Deadly_NZ 5.1.1

        But the worst of it is that unlike those of us who did the big OE, and came back to NZ to raise families and work, Our Kids are just looking at what the so called government is doing and saying “fuck this i’m out of here” And they DON’T come back. And if I could afford it I would be Gone long ago.

        • SBS 5.1.1.1

          This is probably one of the most stupid comments I’ve seen here. No one bases their decision to move on the government of the day but rather on their own personal circumstances. NZ is a small village and given that Kiwis have easy access to the UK and Australia to work then it shouldn’t be any surprise that we wish to live and experience a more cosmopolitan society and gain valuable work experience.

          In particular Australia is a global aberration where a unskilled worker can potentially, especially in Western Australia, much more than they could ever earn anywhere else so its more of a tragedy to lose hardworking members of our working class while being left with the dregs who can’t even be bothered to ante up the $150 required for a one way flight to Oz but continue, like parasites, to suck up the welfare. Unless the labour party is prepared to move the minimum wage to something like $30 an hour we’d lose then anyway.

          Disclosure: currently living and working in Sydney but planning to return so I know about the motivations about why kiwis move there than most of the posters here who quite frankly are just a waste of air.

          • Reality Bytes 5.1.1.1.1

            @SBS “No one bases their decision to move on the government of the day but rather on their own personal circumstances. ”

            Ever hear of political refugees. Oh I bet you many many people reluctantly choose to leave their homeland every minute solely due to their government, and not due to personal circumstances. Infact the people that have the ability to move probably have better resources(personal circumstances) than most of their peers!

          • Colonial Viper 5.1.1.1.2

            Disclosure: currently living and working in Sydney but planning to return so I know about the motivations about why kiwis move there than most of the posters here who quite frankly are just a waste of air.

            There are 700,000 NZ’ers living in Australia. How many of them have you met?

            “Planning to return” What exactly does that mean? Planning to come back if Key and English get back in eh?

            Unless the labour party is prepared to move the minimum wage to something like $30 an hour we’d lose then anyway.

            We’ll start by giving people a fair days pay for a fair days work. NZ workers should be able to afford NZ milk, NZ beef and NZ lamb every day.

            • SBS 5.1.1.1.2.1

              Quite a few actually since it’s easier to pick out the accent so why don’t you STFU about shit you don’t know since you’re not here but in some kind of lowly public service role praying your pointless paper shuffling job is safe from the next round budget cutbacks.

              We expats are always talking about why we left NZ and the reasons are varied. I’ve never come across any who claims that they left because of the depredations of the national administration. To be honest it seems indicative of some kind of mental illness but after reading some of the posts on this site I am not surprised.

              @Reality Bytes: I wasn’t talking about political refugees but Kiwis living in Australia so your ‘insight’ is actually irrelevant. However there are enough leftard wingnuts on this site who actually think NZ is actually some kind of fascistic state.

              • Colonial Viper

                SBS you’re a lowly scavenger looking to pick over the bones of the NZ economy for your National mates right?

                you don’t know since you’re not here but in some kind of lowly public service role praying your pointless paper shuffling job is safe from the next round budget cutbacks.

                😀 So I guess if National get back in this year you are coming back to your home country as a hatchet man for them then?

                We expats are always talking about why we left NZ and the reasons are varied. I’ve never come across any who claims that they left because of the depredations of the national administration.

                “We expats” all 700,000 of you lol so did they mention anything about NZ’s low wages, poor working conditions, minimal and narrow industries, lack of career advancement opportunities, not valuing the training of trades and graduates, endless budget and capability cuts, shit management culture and general lack of science, technology and management innovation?

              • rosy

                No one bases their decision to move on the government of the day but rather on their own personal circumstances.

                Twice now we’ve taken opportunities to leave NZ – the first was when Shipley was in power and we were happy to be out of hearing range. We made a real celebration of casting our votes in London for Labour in the 1999 election and came home 18 months later. This time, after a year away, it’ll be the same. The political situation did influence our decision to take up an overseas contract, and if NACT get back in we’ll be looking to extend it.

                edit – CV you missed the reduction in real political discourse in the MSM and shrinking democratic processes.

                • Colonial Viper

                  Chur. Some of us will always stay behind and fight fight fight these traitors and sell outs in the trenches and in the hills, every inch of the way.

                  So we’ll look forwards to you being back in NZ before too long 🙂

                  • rosy

                    Don’t mistake leaving for giving up the fight – still working for NZ, have our home there and are learning, learning learning. Nice though that I don’t have to see the NAct mob on the TV everyday – saying nothing meaningful and selling us out in secret. I’d love to be home soon 😉

              • Reality Bytes

                @SBS

                Fair enough, I just thought that sounded like quite a sweeping generalization. I was meaning globally. But hey even you backtracked and acknowledged that some people with certain political views may consider themselves repressed and think NZ is actually some kind of fascistic state, I personally don’t, but hey if those people chose to leave because of their government, then you have acknowledged and illustrated how my original point is in fact relevant to NZ after all.

            • jagilby 5.1.1.1.2.2

              “We’ll start by giving people a fair days pay for a fair days work. NZ workers should be able to afford NZ milk, NZ beef and NZ lamb every day.”

              So moving the minimum wage up to $15/hour is going to do that?

              Sure for the people who manage to keep their jobs at minimum wage. What about that next marginal employee who an employer judges too expensive to take on??? What about the 16 year old who leaves college with no qualifications and is priced out of the labour market?

              Oh yeah, the tax payer will pick up the increasing bill for their NZ milk, beef, lamb and cookies. Such a sustainable idea… why has no one thought of that???

              • Colonial Viper

                Oh brilliance jagilby!

                Here’s a simple answer – employers who cannot afford to pay a fairs day wages for a fair days work should close down and make way in the market place for someone who has a better business model and can afford to.

                What about the 16 year old who leaves college with no qualifications and is priced out of the labour market?

                Yeah thank goodness then the National Government is on the ball with apprenticeships, tertiary training programmes and public employment schemes to make sure this doesn’t happen – not!

                Because if the private sector can’t handle the challenge, the public sector will!

                Oh yeah, the tax payer will pick up the increasing bill for their NZ milk, beef, lamb and cookies. Such a sustainable idea… why has no one thought of that???

                Yep. The top 1000 richest New Zealanders control roughly $100B worth of wealth. So if we wanted to make sure that our youth is educated properly and prepared to become productive contributors to the economy, we can tap into that little fund.

                And trust me, none of them will have to give up their vintage champagne, their BMW 7 series with heated leather seats or their first class travel. They’ll be fine.

        • jagilby 5.1.1.2

          Actually – I probably am the age of “your kids” and it isn’t this Government, far from it – it was the previous one that saw a History teacher as finance minister (who crowed about leaving the cupboards bare and demonises “rich pricks” – along with you lot) and the thought of the next labour govt burying the final nails in the coffin that scares the living daylights out of me when I think about returning to NZ.

          You have your collective heads so far up your arse that you fail to realise that you lot are not the solution but rather encompass everything that holds NZ back.

          • Jim Nald 5.1.1.2.1

            Well, so National is so ineffectual that it can’t turn things around? National did campaign to close the gap with Oz. That billboard was the first one they launched on 1 Sep 2008. And I voted for them.

            Labour: if National blames you for it, then make the case that when you’re next in Government, you will review and reverse the policies of the past.

            Phil Goff: you can have our mandate to reverse all the shortcomings of Cullen’s Labour Government of the 2000s, Richardson’s Government of the 1990s, and the Douglas’ ACT-in-Labour-drag Government of 1980s.

          • Colonial Viper 5.1.1.2.2

            You have your collective heads so far up your arse that you fail to realise that you lot are not the solution but rather encompass everything that holds NZ back.

            Yeah because lower wages for all of us would really move NZ forward.

            Or more precisely, would move the asset wealthy capitalist employer class forward.

            Small but important difference there eh? 🙂

          • rosy 5.1.1.2.3

            a History teacher as finance minister

            A Doctor of Social and Economic History and lecturer (Otago University,and Australian National University) as finance minister. There, FIFY.

            • Jim Nald 5.1.1.2.3.1

              And what about the current Finance Minister, Simon William English?

              English (not a pun) literature and Commerce degrees?

              Unlike a PhD, is that like just a simple simon’s bachelors?

              • Colonial Viper

                And I guess Jerry Brownlee might be able to make a door or two for busted Christchurch houses. Using the local school’s woodwork shop you know.

  6. tc 6

    Hilarious millsy ever thought of standup. Oh the sarcasm.

  7. ianupnorth 7

    I was recently on the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast – a few reflections
     
    1) The kids working the rides at Dreamworld and Whitewater World were mainly 20 something Maori kids; they were doing a pretty mundane job, but they were happy, were earning a good wage and had a good quality of life; when I chatted to them they were from all over NZ; they had left whanau behind, who they missed, but they had no regrets.
     
    2) The cars on the road were mainly pretty new, e.g. under 5 years old; people dressed well, people looked happy. Conversely, we have three cars the newest is over 5 years old, and despite earning way above the median salary, I wouldn’t say we were as well off.
     
    3) Property prices were on a par with here; oh, and you get a $5K first time buyers grant and interest free for solar electricity and solar hot water.
     
    4) Petrol was cheaper (read way cheaper) – and they had this strange thing called public transport!
     
    5) The only things that were more expensive were bananas (thanks to their cyclones) and beer.

    6) And contrary to common beliefs (and I so want this not to be the case) – the locals were very, very friendly!
     
    It really made me think what the hell am I doing in NZ? I could earn 75% more, plus get employer paid superannuation and be far better off.

    • Reality Bytes 7.1

      Man it’s posts/opinions like this that make me consider moving there. Or at the very least taking a long working holiday there sometime 🙂

      You do paint the picture well, it’s not all Big city snobbyness there like some people make it out to be. Aussies and aussie residents really are (for the most part) very genuinely friendly easy going people, I really notice that every time I’ve visited the place, and I’ve always enjoyed that aspect.

      • fabregas4 7.1.1

        I was brought up in the days of not liking Aussie – all due to sports. Finally went for a trip there and couldn’t believe how:
        clean and tidy it was
        how nice everyone was
        how they liked Kiwis
        how shopkeepers and shop assistants were actually helpful
        how people went the extra mile.

        I love NZ but it is getting harder and harder to stay here. Sad very sad.

    • wil 7.2

      I too was surprised by the helpfullness of the locals.Even the attractive women don’t think you’re trying to chat them up when asking for help unlike in NZ.

  8. HC 8

    Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, yeah I’ll come waltzing with you, dear Matilda, I’ll come!

    Well, I wish I could, but I am stuck here in this place and am totally determined to shake the f-ing shit out of governments, the dull, dumbed down, and indifferent or resignating people we have left. I am all for a good round of smashing revolt like it was a Queen St riot some many years ago. That is how I feel. I do not say that I would do it though. The boys in blue may wish to talk to me if I would. So I am a very sensible and reasonable chap. But if this government and others to follow will push it just a bit further, I would not be surprised if we will not soon have riots in Otara, Mangere, Manukau, Avondale, Glenfield or whereever in Greater Auckland. You may of course add the same kinds of suburbs of Porirua, Lower Hutt and so forth in Wellington, certain ones in over stressed CH CH, Dunedin, or in certain regions.

    People are on edge now. I see and hear it every day. It has never been so tense, edgy, hostile and hopeless in Aotearoa NZ since I came here about 30 years ago. I have never known it to be this bad. We are indeed in a climate of envy, hatred, racism, rich and poor divide, total disrespect for any government departments and the government itself telling us all is getting better. Nobody really believes this, except the ones in the elitarian areas. So John Key, the traitor of most, the glossy mag face, the ever smiling assassin, the hollow man of false demeanour, the face lifted too many times, the schemer and easy maneuverist in the rich and powerful territory of this God forsaken land, he is now starting to yearn, yes yearn for his sunny retirement home on Hawaii.

    He has to announce tomorrow the most difficult and hated realities to many in the second largest city of the country. That many will have to give up their homes. That though will only address parts of the large city down south. It will by no means give answers to most. So the loyal Cantabrians will in their majority continue to be tested for years to come. What temptation there may be over the other side of the Tasman. It is dry (mostly), at times too wet (in Q-land), yet it is so much better equipped with resources the world need, with riches, opportunities, and better living standards. So this so well blessed country full of fertility of water on this side is unable to compete with that dry territory over there, where Taipan snake and poisonous spiders say good night to each other. What the hell has gone wrong with NZ? It is greed, wrong policies, excessive capitalism, envy, division, political experiments, and above all the high treason of the elite that own most of it – and US!

  9. HC 9

    There are too many idiots in this country, that is why it is given up so easily. If you had brains and guts you would overthrow idiot governments and bring in something constructive and better. But because most Kiwis are so gutless, nobody does. They tend to put the houses and flats up for sale, cash in and get the next plae out. That is NOT patriotism, that is cowardice, no matter how much I try to understand peoples needs. Go to other places on the planet and wars would be fought over this land. But the frustrated Kiwi sells and runs as a coward! Leave it to the wrong government and new migrants then, who is to blame???

    • ianupnorth 9.1

      Spot on HC; been here for 10 years; under the Clark administration I felt, safe, secure and that I was living in a compassionate country that genuinely cared for its own, for it’s back yard (the pacific islands) and the global environment.
       
      The past two and a bit years have been awful. I have been restructured at work twice, we have lost 25% of our staff but are expected to produce the same outcomes. Financially my family are worse off, we spend a fair bit of time looking through the ‘reduced’ section of the supermarket, buy only what is on special, and going out – well that’s a thing of the past. Bear in mind my wife and I both work and have a relatively low mortgage! (and we are not living a very ‘rich’ life).
       
      If it was not for the age of my kids (years 11 and 13 at high school) we would have left a year or so ago.
       
      But HC is so correct – it is the idiots who cannot or choose not to actually see what is going on; I have never lived in a country where people are taken in so much by the rich; they seem to hold them in high esteem whilst, say a union leader, is seen as a pariah.

  10. come get some 10

    and i’m one of them, yay for being on $10 more NZ an hour here (first year into my industry)

    • Colonial Viper 10.1

      Yeah I know a store manager from Christchurch who was on less than NZ$20/hr over here, she is on roughly A$27/hr now doing basically the same job, but in Australia.

  11. Alun 11

    We have just lost our business in NZ and so we’ve essentially lost everything. Thankfully my family are lending me the money to get to Australia and get settled as I can’t find any work here in Northland that will sustain my partner and I and give us any semblance of quality of life. I hope that National don’t get back in after the next election as I would like to come back to a country that isn’t completely f**ked in a few years, but I suspect I might have to stay in Australia for a decade or two unfortunately as the bulk of the voting public seem to be mentally retarded at the moment – it’s like they’re under some trance.. it’s wierd and I want to get out before I succumb to it too.

  12. fabregas4 12

    I’ve always believed that our compaines have had a competitive advantage because of the type of country NZ is (was). A great place to bring up kids, safe, clean, happy. People wanted to come here and most of us knew we were lucky and so if pay was slightly higer elsewhere it was ok.

    Most of that has changed though. That advantage is gone. Broken by successive governments and greedy employers and far right policy. This ironically has been coupled with CEO’s from overseas taking all the best jobs and demanding overseas rates of pay and conditions because that is the global market and driving the average guys wage down because that is the global market!

    Oz looks good to me too just because they are not so dumb as to let all this happen to them.

  13. leftiewestie 13

    Let them go to OZ and be treated like second class citizens. If the opinion that Aussies have of NZers living in their country is anything to go by then the best ones stay here anyway!!

    However, I would like to see the stats broken down to know the number of new NZers who make the trans Tasman move. By this I mean people who come to NZ to get a passport then use their NZ passport to get into OZ which is their ultimate aim in the first place.

  14. mik e 14

    yeah that phd in the history of economics teacher got the economy to grow by 28% by volume over 9 years while the double dipper has only managed less than 1% by volume in 5 years but trickle up many tax cuts for those on over 120,000 pa

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    The coalition government has issued a directive to Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development, instructing them that – in the interests of clear communication – they are to conduct this year’s Māori Language Week primarily or exclusively in English. The directive is in line with the Government’s policy ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    1 day ago
  • Government celebrates fact that New Zealand’s healthcare is so good people are queuing up for it a...

    At yesterday’s post-cabinet press conference, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, flanked by his Health Minister Shane Reti and someone we can’t independently verify was a real sign language interpreter, announced that he had some positive news for the country. “Alright team, I’m just going to hand over to uh, Dr. Shane, ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    1 day ago
  • Heartwarming: Thoughtful driver uses indicator to tell you what they’ve just done

    It’s 4:10pm in the morning, and you’re in the middle lane heading north on the great southern motorway of our nation’s capital, Auckland. There are no cars directly in front of you, but quite a few in the lane to your left. Suddenly, without warning, a black ute enters your ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    1 day ago
  • NPC teams will now be allowed to actually use the Ranfurly Shield in play

    Following decades of controversy, the governing body of New Zealand rugby, New Zealand Rugby, has ruled that the team currently holding the Ranfurly Shield may once again use it in play during the National Provincial Championship (NPC). The ruling restores the utility of a prize that for many years was ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    1 day ago
  • Climbing out of the hamster wheel

    I arrived home with a head full of fresh ideas about mindfulness and curbing impulsive aspects in my character.On the second night home I grabbed a piece of ginger and began swiftly slicing it on our industrial strength mandolin, the one I have learned through painful experience to treat with ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • More Notes From Stinky Town

    Good morning, folks. Another wee note from a chilly Rotorua morning that looks much clearer than yesterday. As I write, the pink glow in the east is slowly growing, and soon, the palest of blue skies should become a bit more royal.A couple of people mentioned yesterday that I should ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Make it make sense: why axe valuable local projects?

    Last week, Matt looked at how the government wants to pour a huge chunk of civic infrastructure funding for a generation  into one mega-road up North, at huge cost and huge opportunity cost. A smaller but no less important feature of the National Land Transport Plan devised by Minister of Transport ...
    2 days ago
  • Driving blind at higher speeds

    An open letter by experts about plans to raise speed limits warns the “tragic consequence will be more New Zealanders losing their lives or suffering severe injury, along with a substantial burden on the nation's healthcare and rehabilitation services”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • 2024’s unusually persistent warmth

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink My inaugural post on The Climate Brink 18 months ago looked at the year 2024, and found that it was likely to be the warmest year on record on the back of a (than forecast) El Nino event. I suggested “there is a real chance ...
    2 days ago
  • National plan for 2000 more Kiwis a year in prison

    Open for allYesterday, Luxon congratulated his government on a job well done with emergency housing numbers, but advocates have been saying it‘s likely many are on the streets and sleeping in cars.Q&A featured some of the folks this weekend - homeless and in cars. Yes.The government’s also confirmed they stopped ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • I Found a Note in a Tree

    Hi,On most days I try to go on a walk through nature to clear my head from the horrors of life. Because as much as I like people, I also think it’s incredibly important to get very far away from them. To be reminded that there are also birds, lizards, ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Politicians need to lift their game

    Declining trust in New Zealand politicians should be a warning to them to lift their game. Results from the New Zealand Election Study for the 2023 election show that the level of trust in politicians has once again declined. Perhaps it is not surprising that the results, shared as part ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago
  • Police say they won’t respond to bomb threats anymore as ‘it’s never anything’

    Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says that New Zealand’s police force will no longer respond to bomb threats, in an attempt to cut costs and redirect police resources to less boring activities. Coster said that threat response and bomb disposal was a “fairly obvious” area for downsizing, as bomb threats are ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    2 days ago
  • A dysfunctional watchdog

    The reality of any right depends on how well it is enforced. But as The Post points out this morning, our right to official information isn't being enforced very well at all: More than a quarter of complaints about access to official information languish for more than a year, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Climate Change: The threat of a good example

    Since taking office, the climate-denier National government has gutted agricultural emissions pricing, ended the clean car discount, repealed water quality standards which would have reduced agricultural emissions, gutted the clean car standard, killed the GIDI scheme, and reversed efforts to reduce pollution subsidies in the ETS - basically every significant ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Vegas Baby

    Good morning, lovely people. Don’t worry. This isn’t really a newsletter, just a quick note. I’m sitting in our lounge, looking out over a gloomy sky. Although being Rotorua, the view is periodically interrupted by steam bursting from pipes and dispersing—like an Eastern European industrial hellscape during the Cold War.Drinking ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Why Entrust Needs New Leadership

    I am part of a new team running in the Entrust election in October. Entrust is a community electricity trust representing a significant part of Auckland, set up to serve the community. It is governed by five trustees are elected every three years in an election the trust itself oversees. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • London Bridge is falling down

    In the UK, London is the latest of council groups to signal potential bankruptcy.That’s after Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city, went bankrupt in June, resulting in reduced sanitation services, libraries cut, and dimmed streetlights.Some in the city described things as “Dickens” like.Please, Sir, Can I have some more?For families with ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Govt may kick elderly out of hospitals

    The Government is considering how to shunt elderly people out of hospitals, and also how to cut their access to other support. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Getting the nephs off the couch

    The so-called “Prince of the Provinces”, Shane Jones, went home last Friday. Perhaps not quite literally home, more like 20 kilometres down the road from his house on the outskirts of Kerikeri. With its airport, its rapidly growing (mostly retired) population, and a commercial centre with all the big retail ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • De moralibus orcorum: Sargon of Akkad, Rings of Power, Evil, and George R.R. Martin

    I have noted before that The Rings of Power has attracted its unfortunate share of culture war obsessives. Essentially, for a certain type of individual, railing on about the Wokery of Modern Media is a means of making themselves a online livelihood. Clicks and views and advertising revenue, and all ...
    3 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #37

    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 8, 2024 thru Sat, September 14, 2024. Story of the week From time to time we like to make our Story of the Week all about us— and ...
    3 days ago
  • Salvation For Us All

    Yesterday, I ruminated about the effects of being a political follower.And, within politics, David Seymour was smart enough on Friday to divert attention from “race blind” policies [what about gender blind I thought - thinking of maternity wards] and cutting school lunches by throwing meat to the media. Teachers were ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • A warm embrace

    Far, far away from here lives our King. Some of his subjects can be quite the forelock tuggers, but plenty of us are not like that, and why don't I wheel out my favourite old story once more about Kiwi soldiers in the North African desert?Field Marshal Montgomery takes offence ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Literal clowns are running the place, we must put a timeout on this stupidity… right Aotearoa?

    These people are inept on every level. They’re inept to the detriment of our internal politics, cohesion and increasingly our international reputation. And they are reveling in the fact they are getting away with it. We cannot even have “respectful debate” with a government that clearly rejects the very ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    4 days ago
  • Fact brief – Does manmade CO2 have any detectable fingerprint?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
    4 days ago
  • Judge Not.

    Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
    4 days ago
  • Managed Democracy: Letting The People Decide, But Only When They Can Be Relied Upon To Give the Righ...

    Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens! The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
    4 days ago
  • Looking For Labour’s Vital Signs.

    Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
    5 days ago
  • Forty Years Of Remembering To Forget.

    The Beginning of the End: Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
    5 days ago
  • Kōrero Mai – Speak to Me.

    Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Winning ways

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Street architecture adjustment, KolkataShare Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • 48 seconds on a plan that would reverberate for a million years

    Despite fears that Trump presidency would be disastrous for progress on climate change, the topic barely rated a mention in the Presidential debate. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Using blunt instruments and magical thinking to ignore evidence of harm

    The abrupt cancellations and suspensions of Government spending also caused private sector hiring, spending, and investment to freeze up for the first six months of the year. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThis week we learned:The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Is This A Dagger Which I See Before Me: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power Episode 5 (Seaso...

    Another week of The Rings of Power, season two, and another confirmation that things are definitely coming together for the show. The fifth Episode of season one represented the nadir of the series. Now? Amid the firmer footing of 2024, Episode Five represents further a further step towards excellent Tolkien ...
    5 days ago
  • In Open Seas; A Book

    The background to In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong:2017-2023Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, published in 2020, proved more successful than either I or the publisher (VUP, now Te Herenga Waka University Press) expected. I had expected that it would ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 13

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Do or do not. There is no try

    1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Dangerous ground

    The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back on National's proposed changes to gut the Marine and Coastal Area Act and steal the foreshore and seabed for its greedy fishing-industry donors, and declared it to be another huge violation of ti Tiriti: The Waitangi Tribunal has found government changes to the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: National wants to cheat on Paris

    In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Treasury warned Govt lower debt limits meant less ‘productivity-enhancing investment’

    Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. But Luxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Is the Media Complicit?

    This is a long read. Open to all.SYNOPSIS: Traditional media is at a cross roads. There is a need for those in the media landscape, as it stands, to earn enough to stay afloat, but also come across as balanced and neutral to keep its audiences.In America, NYT’s liberal leaning ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • Black Friday

    It's Black Friday, the end of the weekYou take my hand and hold it gently up against your cheekIt's all in my head, it's all in my mindI see the darkness where you see the lightSong by Tom OdellFriday the 13th, don’t be afraid.No, really, don’t. Everything has felt a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 13-September-2024

    Ooh, Friday the thirteenth. Spooky! Is that why certain zombie ideas have been stalking the landscape this week, like the Mayor’s brainwave for a motorway bridge from Kauri Point to Point Chev? Read on and find out. This roundup, like all our coverage, is brought to you by the Greater ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37 2024

    Open access notables Early knowledge but delays in climate actions: An ecocide case against both transnational oil corporations and national governments, Hauser et al., Environmental Science & Policy: Cast within the wide context of investigating the collusion at play between powerful political-economic actors and decision-makers as monopolists and debates about ‘the modern ...
    6 days ago
  • What it is

    I liked what Kieran McAnulty had to say about the Treaty Principles bill this morning so much I've written it down and copied it out for you. He was saying that rather than let this piece of ordure spend six months in Select Committee, the Prime Minister could stop making such ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • A government-funded hate campaign

    Cabinet discussed National's constitutionally and historically illiterate "Treaty Principles Bill" this week, and decided to push on with it. The bill will apparently receive a full six month select committee process - unlike practically every other policy this government has pushed, and despite the fact that if the government is ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • How Substack works to take (some) craziness out of America’s elections

    I spoke with Substack co-founder yesterday, just before the Trump-Harris debate, about how Substack is doing its thing during the US elections. He talks in particular about how Substack’s focus on paid subscriptions rather than ads has made political debate on the platform calmer, simpler, deeper and more satisfying ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • David Seymour is such a loser

    For paid subscribersNot content with siphoning off $230,000,000 of taxpayers money for his hobby projects - and telling everyone his passion is education and early childcare - an intersection painfully coincidental to the interests of wealthy private families like Sean Plunkett’s1 backers, the Wright Family, Seymour is back in the ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    7 days ago
  • Cross-party consensus: there’s no pipeline without good faith

    There’s been a lot of talk recently about a cross-party agreement to develop a pipeline for infrastructure, including transport. Last month, outgoing CRL boss Sean Sweeney talked about the importance of securing an enduring infrastructure programme. He outlined the high costs of the relentless political flip-flopping of priorities, which drives ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    7 days ago
  • Voters love this climate policy they’ve never heard of

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The Inflation Reduction Act is the Biden administration’s signature climate law and the largest U.S. government investment in reducing climate pollution to date. Among climate advocates, the policy is well-known and celebrated, but beyond that, only a minority of Americans ...
    7 days ago
  • ACC wants to administer inflation at more than double the RBNZ’s target rate

    ACC levies are set to rise at more than double the inflation rate targeted by the RBNZ. Photo: Lynn GrievesonKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 12:The state-owned monopoly for accident insurance wants ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Harris vs Trump

    We’ve been selected to rock your asses 'til midnightThis is my term, I've shaved off my perm, but it's alrightI solemnly swear to uphold the ConstitutionGot a rock 'n' roll problem? Well we got a solutionLet us be who we am, and let us kick out the jams, yeahKick out ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Treaty Bill “a political stunt”

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon appears to have given ACT Leader David Seymour more than he has been admitting in the proposals to go forward with a Treaty Principles Bill.All along, Luxon has maintained that the Government is proceeding with the Bill to honour the coalition agreement.But that is quite specific.It ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 days ago
  • An average 219 NZers migrated each day in July

    Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 11:Annual migration of New Zealanders rose to a record-high 80,963 in the year to the end of July, which is more than double its pre-Covid levels.Two ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • What you’re wanting to win more than anything is The Narrative

    Hubris is sitting down on election day 2016 to watch that pig Trump get his ass handed to him, and watching the New York Times needle hover for a while over Hillary and then move across to Trump where it remains all night to your gathering horror and dismay. You're ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • National’s automated lie machine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Foreign Minister to travel to New York, French Polynesia

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is travelling to New York next week to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, followed by a visit to French Polynesia. “In the context of the myriad regional and global crises, our engagements in New York will demonstrate New Zealand’s strong support for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Thanking social workers on their national day

    “Today, on Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day, I would like to recognise the tremendous effort social workers make not just today, but every day,” Children’s Minister and Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour says. “I thank all those working on the front line for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • Minister of State for Trade heads to Laos for ASEAN meetings

    Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg will travel to Laos this week to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers’ Meetings in Vientiane.   “The Government is committed to strengthening our relationship with ASEAN,” Ms Grigg says. “With next year marking 50 years since New Zealand became ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • Members appointed to retail crime MAG

    The Government has appointed four members to the Ministerial Advisory Group for victims of retail crime, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “I am delighted to appoint Michael Hill’s national retail manager Michael Bell to the group, as well as Waikato community advocate and business ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation AGM and Conference 2024

    It’s my pleasure to be here to join the opening of the NZNO AGM and Conference for 2024.  First, I’d like to thank NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, NZNO President, Anne Daniels, and Chief Execuitve Paul Gaulter for inviting me to speak today.  Thank you also to all the NZNO members ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago
  • Improvements for New Zealand authors

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says changes to the Public Lending Right [PLR] scheme will help benefit both the National Library and authors who have books available in New Zealand libraries. “I am amending the regulations so that eligible authors will no longer have to reapply every year ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Minister commends Police for gang operation

    Police Minister Mark Mitchell congratulates Police for the outstanding result of their most recent operation, targeting the Comancheros. “That Police have been able to round up the majority of the Comancheros leadership, and many of their patched members and prospects, shows not only the capability of Police, but also shows ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New appointments to the EPA board

    Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has announced a major refresh of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) board with four new appointments and one reappointment.   The new board members are Barry O’Neil, Jennifer Scoular, Alison Stewart and Nancy Tuaine, who have been appointed for a three-year term ending in August 2027.  “I would ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Enabling rural recovery works in Hawke’s Bay

    Cabinet has approved an Order in Council to enable severe weather recovery works to continue in the Hawke’s Bay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell say. “Cyclone Gabrielle and the other severe weather events in early 2023 caused significant loss and damage to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • FamilyBoost childcare payment registrations open

    From today, low-to-middle-income families with young children can register for the new FamilyBoost payment, to help them meet early childhood education (ECE) costs. The scheme was introduced as part of the Government’s tax relief plan to help Kiwis who are doing it tough. “FamilyBoost is one of the ways we ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Prioritising victims with tougher sentences

    The Government has today agreed to introduce sentencing reforms to Parliament this week that will ensure criminals face real consequences for crime and victims are prioritised, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. "In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Targets data confirms rise in violent crime

    The first quarterly report on progress against the nine public service targets show promising results in some areas and the scale of the challenge in others, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “Our Government reinstated targets to focus our public sector on driving better results for New Zealanders in health, education, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Asia Foundation Board appointments announced

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