Rorts

Written By: - Date published: 2:14 pm, July 23rd, 2012 - 59 comments
Categories: capitalism, class war, Ethics, welfare - Tags: , ,

Two headlines almost side by side in The Herald this morning.

Bennett increases pursuit of welfare ‘rorts’

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says more work is under way to detect beneficiary households, where multiple members are being paid the accommodation supplement. She said it was not unlawful or considered to be fraud by Work and Income but she believed most New Zealanders would see it as “a rort”. …

Ms Bennett said that she was also considering a system whereby people who were given grants for food could be given a food parcel instead.

and…

Trillions disappear offshore to tax havens

A global super-rich elite has exploited gaps in cross-border tax rules to hide an extraordinary US$21 trillion ($26 trillion) of wealth offshore – as much as US and Japanese GDPs put together – according to research commissioned by the campaign group Tax Justice Network.

The detailed analysis in the report, compiled using data from a range of sources including the Bank of International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund, suggests that for many developing countries the cumulative value of the capital that has flowed out of their economies since the 1970s would be more than enough to pay off their debts to the rest of the world. …

The sheer size of the cash pile sitting out of reach of tax authorities suggests standard measures of inequality radically underestimate the true gap between rich and poor.

According to Henry’s calculations, US$9.8 trillion of assets is owned by only 92,000 people, or 0.001 per cent of the world’s population – a tiny class of the mega-rich who have more in common with each other than those at the bottom of the income scale in their own societies. “These estimates reveal a staggering failure: inequality is much, much worse than official statistics show, but politicians are still relying on trickle-down to transfer wealth to poorer people,” said John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network. “People on the street have no illusions about how unfair the situation has become.” …

A spokeswoman for UK Uncut said: “People like [Topshop owner] Philip Green use public services – they need the streets to be cleaned, people need public transport to get to their shops – but they don’t want to pay for it.”

Discuss.

[Bunji: The story-breaking articles at the Guardian are worth a read too]

59 comments on “Rorts ”

  1. felix 1

    “She said it was not unlawful or considered to be fraud”

    So what’s she intending to do when she “detects” such households?

    • Kotahi Tane Huna 1.1

      Publish their names and addresses of course.

    • David H 1.2

      Go visit, look in the cupboards, if there’;s more than 4 cans of beans call in the Benefit police to trump up a fraud charge?

    • Murray Olsen 1.3

      She intends to make new aspirational opportunities available to them. Or maybe push for the building of enough state houses so that landlords no longer get paid out their government reward for overcharging?

  2. Carol 2

    Ms Bennett said that she was also considering a system whereby people who were given grants for food could be given a food parcel instead.

    Food parcels could be delivered to people in need instead of grants, which cost about $63 million a year, and possibly with recipes in them because many people did not know cooking basics.

    Aunty Paula representing the Nanny State.

    • prism 2.1

      Good morning, good morning, good morning. Here are some tips for beneficiaries.
      Now we all know how important breakfast is especially for kiddies. Pour your milk on your weetbix and any that is left over can be fed to the fowls which make lovely pets for the children.
      Just watch that friends’ dogs don’t chase and frighten or kill them. They
      don’t like it and won’t lay any eggs then.

    • xtasy 2.2

      Well, maybe that is another business idea that National has up their sleeves?

      Food parcel distribution to the client’s doorstep, year right!

      Once every WINZ client will be forced to accept a payment card, and once WINZ may have established their own “poor people’s bank”, the transactions will become very cost effective and easy.

      Maybe Paula is going to set her new hubby up for starting a distribution business, delivering food parcels to all beneficiaries on payment days?

      For a small fee, direct debited from the payment card and client account, this will become the standard feeding operation of the poor – nationwide. It will ensure no waste on alcohol, cigarettes, expensive movie tickets, fast food and gambling at the casino. The operation will be outsourced by MSD to a smart business operator, like perhaps Paula Bennett’s hubbie.

      Next step will be standardised uniforms for every beneficiary, just give us your sizes, we will deliver. Put a yellow star with ‘WINZ’ on the chest so we can quickly identify you as one of our “valued” clients in queue for a job.

      • fender 2.2.1

        Following on from that will be Camp Winz, cheap mass housing (tents/cabins/holding pens/razor wire), incredibly cheap once the introductory communal shower and the earthmover are paid for.

        [lprent: Godwin’s law comments. Kind of boring. ]

        • fender 2.2.1.1

          “Godwins Law” pop-psych catch-phrase.. equally boring.

          Most boring (and destructive): demonising Minister for social development.

          As Godwins suggests I’ve lost another arguement.

          • Majella 2.2.1.1.1

            Not sure Godwin’s applies here. Have you read any extracts of “The Report from Iron Mountain”? Many claim it debunked as a ‘hoax’ – but it seems less and less absurd as the entire global economy heads to hell…

  3. framu 3

    considering that when applying for a benefit/accommodation supplement you need to provide

    a copy of your lease*
    amount of flatemates and their names*
    and some figures around how much rent you pay in order to get an accommodation supplement*

    then this is just utter dog whistly BS

    * thats what it was like back in the 90s – so im guessing its tougher now

    • xtasy 3.1

      framu: Yes, you are basically correct.

      WINZ will not pay any accomodation supplement until it has evidence how much rent a client pays.

      If a person is flatting, they will ask for a copy of the lease or a separate agreement (flatting agreement) stating how much of the rent or board the single person pays. The lease should make clear what share a flatmate pays, and also a separate agreement between flatmates sharing the lease should make that clear. Generally: If there is no proof of rent or board payable, WINZ pays NO accommodation supplement.

      I honestly don’t know what Bennett is on about.

      The rule is WINZ only pays accommodation supplements on the actual rental share a flattie pays.

      If a flat is shared by more than declared, and if the rent share per flatmate is lowered, then a client has the responsibility to notify WINZ of the change of circumstances. That can and usually will lead to an adjustment.

      So what would declaring false information represent? To my understanding “fraud” or at least failing to comply with client responsibilities (or both). But according to what Bennett was quoted saying, that is not so. Let me guess, maybe she does not have a clue about the law and the Social Security Act. In any case, that should mean, she is in the wrong job!

    • David H 3.2

      Oh yes it’s tougher now. they want to know everything right down to the colour of the patch on your undies. And if you need a emergency food (or other grant) then there is NO appointments so you have to go and sit in the office ALL day until someone will have 5 mins free to make you do your little dance and jump through the hoops. I know, I just had to do it to beg for fuel, to get my partner to hospital in the early morning. But in the end it all depends on who you get. In my local WINZ there are some really helpful people (but I do notice that they are the ones that all of a sudden vanish to be replaced with a ‘prick/prickess’) Which is why I am not saying where I am.

  4. Draco T Bastard 4

    Well, we can be sure that neither Paula Bennett nor this government will target the rorts done by the rich and costing the government billions. They’ll just let them keep getting away with it or legalise it.

    • Majella 4.1

      That’s right. When Bill English was RORTING (rooting, more like) the MP “benefits” system – in particular the accommodaiton allowance (!), it wasn’t the Minister of Social Engineering taht dobbed him in, was it?

  5. Tigger 5

    I wish they’d been so proactive on investigating their own MPs, we wouldn’t have paid out all that rort accommodation allowance to Blinglish et al.

    • mike e 5.1

      Two or three Winz staff are being prosecuted for having access to private files at winz .
      Paula bennitto releases private information to the press and nothing is done.
      Crony ism!!

  6. captain hook 6

    I wonder long she would last on a diet of two minute noodles and canned spaghetti?

  7. AmaKiwi 7

     
    One purpose for a casino is to launder money.
    You take $25,000 of (cash) drug money into the casino, buy chips, pretend to do a bit of betting, cash in your chips, and direct the casino to wire the money to a secret bank account in Venuatu, Panama, Gibralter, or whatever tax havens your prefer. 
    You have three lieutenants, each of you laundering $25,000 three times a week and in one year you have moved $15,600,000 out of NZ.  Your competitors (in the drug trade) are doing the same.  And you thought the only purpose for a casino was to scam money from gambling addicts.
     
    P.S.  Labour is originally responsible for our NZ casinos.  It was the Lange government.  
     
     

  8. vto 8

    Regarding that uber-rich group …….

    in my opinion those that perpetuate the system that allows this to happen are disgusting pigs of people. You judge a society by how it treats its poor.

    As such, John Key and his entire government, each and every MP personally, are disgusting pigs of people. Oink

    oink
    oink
    oink

    And in fact that is unfair to our pig population, who are the most wonderful of animals.

    • TT 8.1

      +1
      Tories aren’t people; they’re worthless pieces of shit. Pond scum has more value, and a greater right to life. Tories are a cancer that needs to be cut out of our society.

  9. freedom 9

    Both examples given by the Minister in that article place only one thing in the spotlight, the failure of the system to properly follow their own criteria for qualification of the supplement.

    Won’t stop the rabid right from baying for blood though.
    (p.s. who else had no idea the Minister was Maori ?)

  10. weka 10

     

    In response to questions at a workshop session at the National Party conference in Auckland during the weekend, she said it was possible for six people to be sharing a house and all getting the accommodation supplement, and that the total could be well in excess of the total rent.
     

    I’m struggling to see how that is even possible. Leaving aside Housing NZ tenants (because I don’t understand how that works), I’m pretty sure that WINZ’s AS formula specifically prevents what Bennett is saying. I’ve run a few different hypothetical figures through the calculation and I can’t get anywhere near a figure where the total AS paid into a household would even cover the rent let alone exceed it (that’s assuming everyone is declaring, which is what she is saying, and is assuming no-one is getting TAS or SpB).
     
    Can anyone else see how that might work?

    • Colonial Viper 10.1

      Its good of you to spend time on this, but I suspect its another Tory irrelevancy designed to please unthinking supporters.

      They are also tacitly accepting multiple families having to share one house.

    • xtasy 10.2

      Truth is: It is just another mean spirited “sound bite” offered by Bennett for the equally dumb and ignorant mass media out there, who employ mostly greasy, career focused, over groomed and attention seeking journos who have studied little else than “journalism” at journalism school, then had to prostitute themselves for a graduate work experience without pay and finally get hired by commercial media pre-occupied with selling advertising and otherwise dumbing down the public.

      Research and investigative journalism have been abolished, as it is too low for reaching cost benefit ratios.

      Such “bites” appeal to the red neck support base, so they will scream “hooray”, at last they deal to those lazy “bludgers”!

      You are right: The way WINZ actually works, assesses, processed and grants accommodation supplements, the relity is: It NEVER covers the actual amount of rent payable, which must be paid for by part of the base benefit rate or a temporary additional support component, which is also capped.

      So many have to juggle paying for rent, electricity, water and food every week. Hence there has been a huge increase in demand for special needs grants (also “cracked down” on), and naturally for food parcels from food banks.

      In the early 1990s Ruth Richardson and Jenny Shipley came up with the idea: Put in a vege garden, which is good for supplementing your food requirements and some exercise! I suppose that will be re discovered by Bennett next.

      • freedom 10.2.1

        The absurdist hilarity of the vege garden fiasco is that most getting paid an Accommodation Supplement live in a rented property and many many landlords do not encourage or even allow tenants to operate a garden. Then there is the bugbear of rationality, that growing number who live sans land to garden on.

    • framu 10.3

      “I’m struggling to see how that is even possible”

      thats because its not possible

      http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/individuals/a-z-benefits/accommodation-supplement.html

      i suggest people email dear audrey the above link and ask why she didnt think it wise to do some research

    • mike e 10.4

      Has anyone noticed its no longer called winz but
      now ‘work and income’ the NZ bit is missing does that mean its going to be sold off as well.

      • Majella 10.4.1

        Mike e – would you buy shares in a revitalized govt. corporation called ‘Welfare Distribution (2012) Ltd’?
        The returns could be enormous – JK/BE ‘ Heres your budget, here’s your KPIs, everything you manage to NOT give away, is YOURS!’ (10% consultancy fees apply, please direct to Cayman Islands accountS, as detailed on your invoice)’

    • Mike 10.5

      She’s full of shit and is outright lying. The only way they could do that is if fraud was occurring (i.e they were lying to winz about their share of the rent) because the amount you receive for the accommodation supplement is always less than what you pay in rent. So for example if the 6 people are paying $80 a week each in rent for a $480 house then they will receive less than $480 total accommodation supplement.

      What she doesn’t mention is that someone making $700 a week can still claim an accommodation supplement (they get around $10 I think).

      • xtasy 10.5.1

        What bloody well gets me, that the damned stupid and even biased mainstream media, like I think in this case the “NZ National Herald” again, publish her shit and untrue, ignorant comments, as if they present some “authority” of sorts, coming from “Her Highness” our “Minister”!

        It is all crap and nonsense, as you say, and the law is already clear on all this.

        Bennett though, I am starting to realise more and more, she does not even know her own ministry, the departments within it, and she does NOT understand the legal meaning of the provisions of the Social Security Act!

        Having such an idiot run the ministry is a total failure and irresponsibility of any government.

        And she dares to put this unjustified, unfounded talk about “rorts” into circulation, while we have an explosion of rents and housing costs right now in most of Auckland.

        1 bedroom flats now go for over $ 300, even around $ 350 a week, 2 bedroom flats are that and more, some now $ 400 or more a week, and 3 or 4 bedroom homes are asking for rents that used to be charged for luxury apartments on Tamaki Drive.

        This lot is a totally mean spirited, incompetent, ignorant, self serving and social conscience and responsibility lacking bunch of governing bastards, they should be facing a scorched earth treatment by the populace, which though is sadly resigned to desperate servitude, and too frightened to stand up and speak out. NZ is LOST like this!

  11. tracey 11

    She is just feeding the oft repeated myth that many beneficiaries are committing fraud. Labour spent time and money doing the same thing in 2007 and found tiny instances of fraud, and a bunch of fraud by employees.

    But this govt doesnt let facts get in the way of populist myth making.

  12. tracey 12

    Oh dear, all the nat supporters who villified the greens using their leaders budget to fund people for the petition now have to take a deep breath and villify their leader for using the leaders fund to poll nzers

    • felix 12.1

      Details?

      • rosy 12.1.1

        Just another case of doing whatever the you feel like

        Prime Minister John Key has used taxpayer funding provided through Parliament to ask voters which political party they vote for, potentially providing canvassing data for the National Party.

        The survey asks for voters views on a range of topics, but also asks which party they always, or usually, support.

        It has sparked questions from the Opposition about whether the rules covering taxpayer-funded mailouts from Parliament should be reviewed.

        The letter, which has landed in mailboxes across the Wellington region, has three inserts; a letter from Key, a summary of the budget, and a questionnaire for voters to fill out and send back Freepost to Key at Parliament.

        All three inserts carry the parliamentary crest, and a spokeswoman for Key confirmed they were paid for out of the taxpayer-funded ”leader’s budget”.

        Asking people who they voted for… from the party in power… that’s a bit cheeky isn’t it?

  13. xtasy 13

    So the New Zealand Herald has done it yet again! Spreading lies to the public:

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10822157

    I followed this up and phoned them. After being put through to the PA of the Editor, I explained the truth and that their editorial was wrong and misleading, relying on a lying minister that is incompetent and should not be in her job.

    After a minute of listening I was supposedly to be put on hold, but I was put through to the answer phone of the editor, hence I left a further message there, after which I was cut off.

    There has been no return call, there has been no response, there has been no correction of the misinforming, not fact based “editorial” today, and instead, it seems they have now deleted me as “commenter” to their articles under the “opinion” heading.

    That proves now for sure, the NZ Herald is misinforming the public, telling lies, supporting a rotten, also misinforming, manipulating government and has no true value as a mass media that is supposed to “cater” to the wider public and “inform” them.

    Such crappy media should be nationalised and the editors sacked for good, never to work in their jobs again!

    • xtasy 13.1

      Correction: Re-ckecking my user profile on the NZ Herald website, it appears to only have been inaccessible temporarily, maybe for technical reasons? Yet one should expect them to publish comments pointing out their mistakes, or they should publish a correction of wrong published info. I see none of that happening.

      • xtasy 13.1.1

        The Herald has NOT published comments I made under my NZ Herald user name since I raise this matter!!!

    • xtasy 13.2

      The NZ Herald is not interested in the truth about beneficiaries and seems to stubbornly stick to their “editorial”, which followed the wrong report about supposed “accommodation supplement rorts” early in the week.

      Having informed their editor and one journalist, who have been repeating the wrong information that Paula Bennett has been spreading about beneficiaries sharing their accommodation and being able to claim more in the way of supplements than the actual rent, what the actual true facts re granting and entitlement to that benefit component is, they are simply ignoring all this and continue publishing misleading and wrong information:

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10822157

      See my comments above about the truth about accommodation supplements.

      If journalists and editors write stuff, one would think they would first of all check whether info they refer to is true. That is not done though, so mainstream media becomes complicit in misleading the public, which is absolutely appalling and should be exposed. Accountability does not seem to exist.

      I have been informed that an MP is going to follow up the matter and challenge mischievous PB.

      • Mike 13.2.1

        I have long thought the Herald is dodgy. They won’t publish my letters anymore because of an email argument I had with the editor of ‘letters to the editor’.

        The email conversation went like this:

        My initial letter to the herald regarding Time Warner and The Hobbit.

        Sir

        I find it extraordinary that one media corporation, namely Time Warner has enough power not only to get millions in concessions from our government, but to be able to actually force a law change in our country. 1.4 million New Zealanders recently asked for a law change through referendum and were ignored. But one American corporation which exists only to maximise profit for its foreign owners requests a law change and our Prime Minister pushes through a new law in less than a day! This shows John Key’s true colours, always profit before people just like in his days working on the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Those criticizing the actors and CTU should remember that for centuries our ancestors have fought and sometimes sacrificed their lives fighting for the human rights we enjoy today. However small a particular right may be, to flippantly suggest that someone should give up that right to a foreign corporation is hugely disrespectful to those ancestors. Wake up New Zealand. Your government clearly views the profiteering demands of a foreign corporation as more important than those of the New Zealand people. We must be a laughing stock in Hollywood.

        Reply from Kevin Hart, Letters Editor:-

        Dear reader. John Key never worked for the Federal Reserve. If you wish your letter to be considered for publication, you might amend it so it is factually correct. Regards.
        Kevin Hart.
        NZ Herald.

        My reply back to Kevin Hart

        Hi Kevin

        Below taken from wiki and from John Key’s own website. My understanding is that the New York Fed is the main branch of the United States Federal Reserve. (A privately owned run for profit central bank) I have amended the letter to reflect. Hope that suits

        regards
        Mike

        “In 1995, he joined Merrill Lynch as head of Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. That same year he was promoted to Merrill’s global head of foreign exchange, based in London, where he may have earned around US$2.25 million a year including bonuses, which is about NZ$5 million at 2001 exchange rates. Some co-workers called him “the smiling assassin” for maintaining his usual cheerfulness while sacking dozens (some say hundreds) of staff after heavy losses from the 1998 Russian financial crisis.[4][8] He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 1999 to 2001.[9]”

        Kevin’s reply back to me
        Mike. The Federal Reserve is the US equivalent of our Reserve Bank. To repeat, John Key had had nothing to do with it. Regards.
        Kevin Hart.
        NZ Herald.

        My reply back again to Kevin

        Hi Kevin

        Thank you for your reply. Being a journalist, your research skills are no doubt a good deal better than mine; so I’d be grateful if you could point me in the right direction in the hope I can get the correct information now and in the future? I’m trying to find a summary of John Key’s work history prior to him becoming an MP in NZ. The links below are some of the sources I have used to gather my information. But they all state Key’s involvement with the New York Federal Reserve, an organisation you’re telling me that “John Key had had nothing to do with”

        So I’m confused, as the sources I’ve listed would appear to be reliable, including an article from your own New Zealand Herald. I would really appreciate your help in finding the true facts regarding this matter, which I’m assuming you must get from a non-mainstream, non-widely regarded, perhaps even non-even heard of, secret journalist source?

        thanks in advance and regards
        Mike

        http://www.newyorkfed.org/fxc/members/members_past.html
        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10412660
        http://www.ny.frb.org/fxc/members/members_past.html
        http://www.johnkey.co.nz/pages/bio.html
        http://www.national.org.nz/bio.aspx?id=28
        http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article5119885.ece
        http://www.nyse.com/press/1253528968415.html
        http://www.thecommonwealth.org/YearbookInternal/172036/head_of_government/

        Received no further correspondence and they will no longer publish my letters.

        • felix 13.2.1.1

          Ha!

        • Murray Olsen 13.2.1.2

          Call me cynical, but I doubt if fact checking was the reason they didn’t publish your letter. Without incorrect statements and blatant falsehoods, they wouldn’t have a newspaper. The used car classifieds are probably the most honest part of their rag.

        • Colonial Viper 13.2.1.3

          The Federal Reserve is the US equivalent of our Reserve Bank. To repeat, John Key had had nothing to do with it. Regards.

          The NZ Herald is completely incompetent. FBNY is a key part of the Federal Reserve System of the United States. When people talk about “the Fed” they are talking about the Federal Reserve System as a whole.

        • xtasy 13.2.1.4

          Come on, the dictator in a de facto dictatorship always is right and has the last word!? Do you dare to doubt this and risk your health and well being? Last warning!

  14. xtasy 14

    The following link proves once and for all, how accommodation supplement is caculated by WINZ:

    http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/manuals-and-procedures/income_support/extra_help/accommodation_supplement/accommodation_supplement-90.htm

    So there is a threshold set at $ 130 which is deducted from the total rent paid, and only 70 per cent of the amount above that is granted as total accommodation supplement, which again cannot go about the maximum allowed in the relevant region.

    My past experience is that it ends up to cover about half of the actual rent paid.

    So the applied policy already is so designed to force people into “affordable” accommodation, often being shared accommodation (e.g. in a shared flatting arrangement).

    Naturally every individual in such a shared flat will only get accommodation supplement paid according to the individual’s share of the total rent.

    Bennett is LYING, same as Phil Heatley, Minister for Housing, was LYING to journalists, when he appeared on The Nation today.

    I could not believe him telling the viewers that Housing NZ tenants can take in boarders who get the accommodation supplement, so they can take advantage of cheap Housing NZ rents AND make a gain by earning extra through the supplement.

    All Housing NZ tenants I know have stipulated in their agreement that they are NOT allowed to sublet to boarders or flatmates!

    But NO mainstream media bothers to check this, and they even mislead the public by spreading the lies of ministers!

    • blue leopard 14.1

      @ xtasy

      I have been wondering how this rort could occur for exactly the reasons you write. Thought one had to let WINZ know how many flatmates one had when applying for an accommo supplement. Had thought something must have changed. Glad you mentioned it.

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  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 19

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024

    Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
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    3 days ago
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