Romney joins the birthers

Written By: - Date published: 2:41 pm, August 27th, 2012 - 55 comments
Categories: us politics - Tags: , ,

I’ve been meaning to write for a while on the American presidential campaign, and the terrifying possibility of a Ryan-Romney presidency. Later I hope, but I can’t help but note briefly now that Mitt Romney has joined the truly loony “birthers”:

Romney makes birth certificate dig at Obama

US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney took a dig at President Barack Obama today over his birth certificate in comments that re-ignited the controversy over the Democrat’s eligibility to be president.

“No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate,” Romney told a rally of some 7000 people in his home state of Michigan. “They know that this is the place that we were born and raised,” he said to the laughter of the crowd, speaking alongside his wife, Ann.

Romney’s comments were a reference to the widely discredited belief that Obama, whose father was from Kenya, was not born in the United States and thus is not eligible to be president. …

Romney brought up the issue despite having complained recently that the campaign had taken a nasty tone.

“Throughout this campaign, Governor Romney has embraced the most strident voices in his party instead of standing up to them,” Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said.

“Governor Romney’s decision to directly enlist himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter across America,” he said.

Give pause to “any rational voter” – that’s true. But the longer I spend watching politics the more I see that rationality has bugger all to do with it. A Ryan-Romney presidency is a very real possibility. Then things get really interesting.

55 comments on “Romney joins the birthers ”

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  1. TheContrarian 1
    27 August 2012 at 2:54 pm

    Romney has consistently maintained he believes Obama is a natural citizen.  

    • Lightly 1.1
      27 August 2012 at 3:09 pm

      yeah but he’s dog-whistling racists and that’s despicable.

      birther-ism is just racism in disguise.

    • felix 1.2
      27 August 2012 at 3:14 pm

      “Romney has consistently maintained he believes Obama is a natural citizen.”

      So he’s playing to those who believe the birther nonsense, even though he knows it’s wrong. That’s actually worse that if he believed it IMO.

      • TheContrarian 1.2.1
        27 August 2012 at 3:36 pm

        Na, no need for him to even do that because birthers wouldn’t vote Obama anyway.

        I think he just made a stupid joke. It isn’t like he is known for making well thought out comments. The man is a buffoon.

        • felix 1.2.1.1
          27 August 2012 at 3:58 pm

          “birthers wouldn’t vote Obama anyway”

          That’s a moot point, he’s not saying this shit to try to win support from Obama voters. He’s saying it to build, nurture and strengthen the support of the racist, redneck, retard elements of his own party.

          And by doing so, he lends a little bit of credence to their offensive idiot views and makes the whole world a tiny bit worse forever.

          And yep, he’s a buffoon. But New Zealanders of all people ought to be wary of writing off buffoons.

      • seeker 1.2.2
        27 August 2012 at 4:52 pm

        And mine felix. Doing it “even though he knows it’s wrong” debases the man, and in turn dog whistles the baser instincts of humanity for his own ends. Those who follow him and agree with him become debased in turn. It’s so infectious, it’s almost a right wing virus.

    • joe90 1.3
      27 August 2012 at 3:19 pm

      birther-ism is just racism in disguise

      Ta-Nehisi Coates: Fear of a Black President.

      If Obama is not truly American, then America has still never had a black president.

    • Matt 1.4
      27 August 2012 at 7:40 pm

      Um, if one thing characterizes candidate Romney, it is that he has not maintained a consistent position on anything.

  2. Carol 2
    27 August 2012 at 3:05 pm

    “No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate,” Romney told a rally of some 7000 people in his home state of Michigan. “They know that this is the place that we were born and raised,” he said to the laughter of the crowd, speaking alongside his wife, Ann.

    This looks to me more like a racist dog whistle, rather than expressing a belief Obama was not born in the US. It is invoking a racial hierarchy by implying that Romney is more truly a US-ian because of his ethnicity/skin colour

  4. Bored 4
    27 August 2012 at 3:17 pm

    I posted Orlovs tongue in cheek comment on another post earlier…refers to the idiots who will vote Romney.

    …….. go out and take part in the Reverse French Revolution that’s underway in the US. That’s where revolting peasants do all they can to elect an aristocrat who will swindle them out of their savings even faster and lock up even more of them in the Bastille. And what makes these peasants so revolting is that they are all fat—from eating cake instead of bread, just as Marie Antoinette had suggested.

  5. Pete 5
    27 August 2012 at 3:55 pm

    Nate Silver of Fivethirtyeight still gives Obama a 69.4% chance of winning a second term. Unless there’s a huge October surprise or the economy goes into freefall, I don’t think that will change.

  6. Pascal's bookie 6
    27 August 2012 at 4:21 pm

    It is possible that the GOP hasn’t been using a whole lot of racist bullshit in the permanent campaign.

    It’s also possible that they aren’t referencing all of that stuff in the more intensive campaign in the lead up to November in order to give the more excitable racist halfwits in their base a reason to vote for a flipflopping Mormon stuffed shirt who that very same base has been hating on for the last few runs around the electoral turnpike.

    It’s possible. Both of those things are possible. But it doesn’t look very likely in this particular universe.

    http://www.timwise.org/2012/08/if-it-walks-like-a-duck-and-talks-like-a-duck-racism-bigotry-and-the-death-of-respectable-conservatism/

  7. muzza 7
    27 August 2012 at 5:54 pm

    It makes no difference who you have, you get the same result, simply faster if the GOP are flying the red flag and at the wheel!

    If TPTB wanted Obama back in, they would be printing again by now, so its war or lose I expect for him.

    Romney, fantastic, get a look where his family came from and some of his distant relatives, and do the same with Paul Ryan, what a pair those two make!

    ____________________________________________________________

    Why R0b, did you bother writing this article, was it purely to show your bias and eager need to take a poke a hole at the “birthers”, because your words are transparent.

    The whole piss-take that is 100% controlled US politics is awful to witness, so to have an article of this low quality on TS, not even attempting to cover anything constructive at all, says alot about the author.

    You can do better than this r0b, total waste of energy writing on what is obviously a personal bug bear!

    • felix 7.1
      27 August 2012 at 6:16 pm

      Jeez muzza, don’t tell me you believe that birther rubbish as well.

      • muzza 7.1.1
        28 August 2012 at 7:25 am

        I dont have an opinion either way, because it makes no difference,.

        This years presidential “choices”,

        The Wall St rent boy, racial appeaser with a fake peace prize, questionable past and beliefs

        or

        The Wall St rent boy asset stripper, who wont show his tax returns, is a mormon bishop, and possibly trying to live out some sort of oath, or prophecy according to his beliefs

        Sweet options!

        • locus 7.1.1.1
          28 August 2012 at 8:36 am

          You don’t have an opinion either way…. Why not answer the question and agree that birthers are seriously fruitcake racists?

          • muzza 7.1.1.1.1
            28 August 2012 at 9:37 am

            I won’t answer, because I do not know/care either way that they are “seriously fruitcaske rac*sts”. Some will be, some won’t be, either way, its again just smoke and mirrors!

            Notice how they each have a distraction issue to throw at eachother, Romney with his tax returns, and Obama with the birth certificate.

            Instead of following the “distractions”, which you do to try convince yourself that you are not some “closet rac*st”, maybe take a look into what both these “men” represent!

  8. captain hook 8
    27 August 2012 at 7:15 pm

    Rachael Maddow on Letterman this afternoon. “The Republican Party is toxic, anti science and creating states laws to stop people from voting.
    I guess the vote is only ‘legitimate’ if you are a republican.
    Romney is also promising to cut taxes for the rich too.
    Looks like the USA is starting to weird out and go on the wonk New Zealand style.

  9. Macro 9
    27 August 2012 at 7:27 pm

    The UK media got it right – “Mitt the Twit!”
    Only idiots would vote for that man.

    http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/mittromney/ig/Mitt-Romney-Pictures/Mitt-the-Twit.htm

  10. Tim G 10
    28 August 2012 at 12:07 am

    Similar neo-lib shit, different colour and incredibly boring.

    Supposedly intelligent TS readers repeating the same rubbish about Romney being wooden and JK being affable/personable – apparently if the media keep repeating it you’ll buy it.

    I am always amazed that my completely politically-disengaged friends in NZ can get excited about what is effectively a 1 horse race.

  11. Colonial Viper 11
    28 August 2012 at 12:27 am

    I think the Republicrats will win. Or maybe the Demoblicans. Well, regardless of who actually wins, it will be one of the bankster-sponsored political parties.

    • Mr Burns 11.1
      28 August 2012 at 8:47 am

      Of course it will. Us business elites have standards to maintain. What are you saying, that ordinary people should have a say in how America is run? What are you a, <splutter>, communist?

  12. mike 12
    28 August 2012 at 1:42 am

    “Corporations are people, my friend,” Romney said.

    Some people in the front of the audience shouted, “No, they’re not!”

    “Of course they are,” Romney said. “Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes?”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romney-says-corporations-are-people/2011/08/11/gIQABwZ38I_story.html

    Wow this guy is a genius. His words make so much sense! I used to think that everything that corporations earned ultimately went to offshore tax havens, or maybe zebras. But now I see that it actually goes to… people.

    And clearly, this proves that corporations in fact are people.

    Haha American politics is farney.

    • The Peanut Monster 12.1
      28 August 2012 at 1:02 pm

      Worse – the US Supreme Court confirmed this in the Citizens United case, when it held that corporations were in fact, entitled to fund political campaigns as a constitutional right under the First Amendment, a right that was reserved until that point for human beings. Then comes the Super PAC, and the unfortunate richest-man-takes-all political system that is the United States.

  13. Tracey 13
    28 August 2012 at 8:39 am

    The obvious unfounded retort is ” I only have one wife”

  14. The Peanut Monster 14
    28 August 2012 at 12:28 pm

    This kind of rhetoric is dangerous. It smacks of nationalism and in some cases, plain racism. In many respects, the Republican party is highly racist, which interestingly goes against their roots, founded as they were an anti-slavery party: http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/25/politics/cnn-explains-gop-party/index.html?
    Lincoln is celebrated by both sides of the fence (as I believe, he should be), but he was far more “left” than the average Republican nowadays. The obsession with national myths – the Boston Tea Party for example – is useful to a point. The problem is that they are mythologised into fantasy, and their meaning is lost. Popularising things for political ends to manipulate the masses is dangerous. Especially, as in this case, it is basically racism.

    Many americans sadly do not need to be encouraged on that front.

  15. tc 15
    28 August 2012 at 3:04 pm

    Is anyone surprised after electing and then re-electing the Village idiot, george double ya, that mittens is anything but as mad as a box of frogs.

    from a land where they have massive warehouses of religious books from old and recent print runs/recycle runs piling up because ya can’t destroy the word of god you know

  16. captain hook 16
    28 August 2012 at 3:10 pm

    is romney legitimate?

  17. fatty 17
    28 August 2012 at 3:11 pm

    I love the US elections…almost as good as a season of Breaking Bad

    • lprent 17.1
      28 August 2012 at 3:42 pm

      Nah – reassembles a recent season of True Blood – full of arcane story arcs, far too many characters, a world where working for a living is steadily becoming something that only innocent victims do, and punctuated by vast screeds of arterial blood as the storyline slowly spins out of control.

      By which you can deduce that
      a. I get forced to at least listen to the series.
      b. I don’t like the series much.
      c. The series makes more sense than US politics since they evisicate news readers in prime time….

      and based on turnout in the US where more people don’t vote than vote for either presidential candidate… I guess they view it the same way I do.

  18. Certificate Courses 18
    28 August 2012 at 6:41 pm

    Is there a reason we are being this childish?

  19. millsy 19
    28 August 2012 at 10:15 pm

    In the 1980 campaign, Reagan was endorsed by 2 labour unions, PATCO (ooops..), and the Teamsters. He also delivered a speech with words to the effect that unions engaging in collective bargaining was an example of freedom.

    In the 1970’s Richard Nixon increased funding to universities and introduced laws to combat air pollution. He also proposed a form of universal health care and a UBI. The space shuttle was designed and developed with his backing.

    Dwight Eisenhower created the Interstate Highway system, expanded Social Security carried on with the New Deal.

    Infact, a large amount of the Republicans who either held or campaigned for office in the post-war period, would be considered to be well to the left of the party in 2012.

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    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago

  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago

  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago

  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    6 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    7 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 week ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 week ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • COP28 National Statement for New Zealand
    Tēnā koutou katoa Mr President, Excellencies, Delegates. An island nation at the bottom of the Pacific, New Zealand is unique.          Our geography, our mountains, lakes, winds and rainfall helps set us up for the future, allowing for nearly 90 per cent of our electricity to come from renewable sources. I’m ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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