web analytics

Sacred cows

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, December 20th, 2012 - 38 comments
Categories: class war, newspapers, tax - Tags: ,

Interesting anonymous editorial in The Herald yesterday:

Sacred cows fair game as Govt clings to surplus

A$66 million surplus in 2014-15 is, as Bill English noted yesterday, “not large”. But, in the interests of avoiding embarrassment, it is one the Finance Minister is clearly very keen to protect.

As much was apparent as he used the release of the half-year economic and fiscal update to indicate that spending on the Government’s biggest programmes is now under the gun. “Long-term drivers of costs in areas such as welfare, health, education and law and order” were mentioned as Mr English outlined his plan to retain the surplus in the face of a threatened further deterioration in the global economy. …

The universality of the likes of Working for Families, as well as the generosity of interest-free student loans, have previously been deemed out of bounds. The Government has, unfortunately, not been prepared to take tough decisions, whatever their rationality and reasonableness.

The wealthy, therefore, continue to be eligible for Working for Families benefits. Student loans have been subjected only to tinkering, aimed mainly at reclaiming loans. Mr English’s gaze should be directed at tailoring welfare to those who genuinely need it, and reining in the benevolence of the loan scheme.

Why is it, that on any editorial list of sacred cows the Nats’ tax cut bribe for the rich never seems to feature? Rolling back those tax cuts would raise much more revenue than tinkering with student loans, and is much fairer besides, but strangely this particular cow is never offered up for sacrifice.

In unrelated news, it’s a fair bet that the anonymous scribe waxing lyrical about the “benevolence” of the student loan scheme (1) received a free education themselves, and (2) benefited greatly from the tax cut bribe. Mmmm – funny that.

38 comments on “Sacred cows ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. r0b 1
    20 December 2012 at 9:25 am

    And on that somewhat grumpy note, I’m off for a bit. Back in January some time. Have a good Christmas all. Be careful on the roads, and have a great summer.

  2. rosy viper 2
    20 December 2012 at 9:50 am

    I’ve been thinking lately that it will be interesting to see how well Tony Ryall does if more pressure is put on health spending. It looks like he better be preparing himself.

    So far he’s remained off the list of incompetent ministers despite DHB and PHO mergers and reduced funding for primary care access for vulnerable populations. Whatever pressures there are seem to have remained ‘in house’. I’d go so far as to say that by keeping away from the headlines he’s on the list of top performing ministers. I’ll be interested to see if he can maintain that when the pressure to cut goes on.

  3. fatty 3
    20 December 2012 at 10:45 am

    .In unrelated news, it’s a fair bet that the anonymous scribe waxing lyrical about the “benevolence” of the student loan scheme (1) received a free education themselves, and (2) benefited greatly from the tax cut bribe. Mmmm – funny that.

    True, and we should not forget that Bill English got two unrelated degrees at two different universities. A Commerce degree at Otago and then an English degree at Victoria in Wellington. He would have been paid to study back then.

  5. Andrew Geddis 5
    20 December 2012 at 1:39 pm

    Off topic, and only because I know the author will be too modest to link to it himself:

    http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/otago040382.html

    Well done.

  6. blue leopard 6
    20 December 2012 at 4:21 pm

    “as well as the generosity of interest-free student loans,”

    Yeah this really pisses me off. New Zealand appears to be importing educated people, due to a lack of them in this country and at no time does the sacred cow of the failure of the student loan scheme ever get addressed.

    Rather we get cowards, who can’t even sign their name to the memes they are propagating; writing crap about “the generosity of…”.

    Yeah, sure, thank you Masters for providing a whacking great debt to those who are going to provide society with a much needed service, I mean, free education used to be factored as an investment, however now that mindless-market-mania-mentality has taken over all sense has walked out of the equation. And forethought, or analysis of the effects of certain policies appears to have become a sacrilege to be replaced by mindless “proverbs” mentioning “generosity” and “debt creation” in the same sentence as though they are synonyms.

    • Lanthanide 6.1
      20 December 2012 at 4:31 pm

      Higher education is both a public and a private good. I don’t think it is unreasonable that there should be some level of private investment in it. I think the SL scheme we have at the moment is a good compromise.

      What I would like to see is the diploma mills shut down (private institutes selling entry-level courses on hype and misrepresentation), as well as stopping people from going to university and racking up debt if it’s clear they’re only doing it because they have no idea what else to do, or people who eventually drop out with no qualifications and a load of debt. I believe the government has added some requirements that 2nd year onwards SL requires passing marks for 1st year, which is a good step in this direction.

      I also wouldn’t be opposed to a very low rate of interest, no more than 1-2%, as well as the 10% bonus brought back for voluntary payments over $500 in fiscal year (government has scrapped them for next year). At the moment most people are just letting inflation eat away at their debt.

      • blue leopard 6.1.1
        20 December 2012 at 4:53 pm

        What isn’t factored in Lanthanide, is the people who are capable of university level study who have backgrounds that are not flush with money and how agreeing to tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt, is really a whole lot more difficult for one in that position, than for someone who has more financial abundance in their background. This holds true whether the wealthy parents are generous or not.

        To put it a wee bit callously
        This means that many people who could be very active members of society, may end up being non-active and costs to society.
        This also means that the majority of people with educated careers are those with certain flush background and have very little idea of how to address the problems of different stratos of society.

        This is entirely inefficient system and I think you would find, if any studies were done, the least of our problems would be people who are going into education and failing their courses. I agree about the “diploma-mills”. Education is becoming more and more about funding for educational institutes and less about imparting useful knowledge effectively. This is another by-product of turning educational institutes into business-models. The main focus is not there anymore.

        • DS1 6.1.1.1
          20 December 2012 at 5:25 pm

          Agree completely.

          It also discriminates against students who come from a non-university town who can’t therefore live with their parents. My loan would have been far smaller had I been able to live with the folks.

        • Lanthanide 6.1.1.2
          20 December 2012 at 8:59 pm

          “This means that many people who could be very active members of society, may end up being non-active and costs to society.”

          I didn’t voice the other side of this policy bent of mine: student allowances would be made more available, which would in turn likely help those of lesser financial backgrounds more than the other changes I suggest would hurt them.

          The thinking behind that is that generally my proposals would lead to a higher calibre of students, so there would be fewer of them, therefore the money can be concentrated amongst them more.

          • blue leopard 6.1.1.2.1
            20 December 2012 at 10:29 pm

            Thanks DS1
            Lanthanide, I don’t understand. As far as I know, student allowances are available to all, although only for about 5 years study, therefore, how could they become “more available”?

            • McFliper 6.1.1.2.1.1
              20 December 2012 at 10:39 pm

              Income thresholds, individual and parental.
              5 year restriction.
              Length of study.
              Study workload.
              Achievement requirements.

              All have or are little tweaks that help make students ineligible for part or all of the allowances. And cost fuck-all compared to loss-making highways, bailing out incompetent money managers, or giving key tax cuts and pay rises.

              Fuck, part time students can’t even borrow to pay for course related costs.

              • blue leopard …
                20 December 2012 at 10:56 pm

                Ah, cheers, I had forgotten about the income thresholds for those with wealthier parents.

                Yes, cost fuck-all, **with more benefits** than loss-making highways, bailing out incompetent money managers, or giving key tax cuts and pay rises too!

                It would be interesting to know what Universities and Polytechs costs and expenditures are. I’m guessing the amount that students are charged is likely to be higher than what it costs to supply the education, I realise there are many costs involved, over the pay of the lecturers, including up-dating knowledge and equipment to convey the information, however, I have been in lectures with 100s of students, and these students’ fees, I would guess, subsidize the later year classes, where there are fewer students. Unsure about this, however, seems this must be the case?

                • McFliper …
                  20 December 2012 at 11:07 pm

                  Universities are crown entities, so their accounts are online.

                  Basically, they usually have internal accounting policies so they “pay” for lecture theatres, IT, labs, all that good stuff from university central services. Large lectures need larger buildings, smaller tutorial rooms are cheaper by the hour. And they transfer those costs to the students through fees.

                  ISTR that student fees (incl the govt portion) are a large component of uni income, but only around half of it.

                  • blue leopard …
                    21 December 2012 at 12:20 am

                    Take Otago University as an example.

                    They say they have about 18,000 full-time students
                    http://www.otago.ac.nz/about/quickstats.html#student

                    For arguments sake, lets say they are all taking first-year BA papers which amounts to approx $5,000p/a (of course some courses cost a whole lot more than that, and overseas students are paying more again)
                    http://www.otago.ac.nz/study/fees/

                    This amounts to $90,000,000 per year to cover all the expenses.
                    If the University is a Crown entity, they are paying rent to whom? The Crown?

                    I have my doubts as to what the real costs of a course of study are, and suspect that there is a fair amount of profit being made in these institutes for the Government.

                    It appears that the Government is being “generous” in supplying students with loans in order to get profit now and then further profit later (in the form of higher taxes).
                    Very generous indeed.

                    • McFliper …
                      21 December 2012 at 1:19 am

                      Any profit goes to the university, not the government central coffers. The rent is an internal university accounting thing so each department has to meet its own costs on an annual basis (although they do rent extra facilities where needed). Personally, I think that sucks a bit because it makes departments focus as degree factories filling supply/demand fads rather than education as an esoteric good. Oh, and department heads become as obsessed about an artificial bottom line as small business owners.

                      The 2011 annual report gives domestic tuition income as $91mil (nice estimate :)). Total income was $592,394,000. Ah, ok “government grants” was $200mil, and the bulk of that would be student-related funding, so that’s about 50% of total income related to teaching.

                      The net surplus was $27mil, or about 5 or 6% of income. Not exactly a huge margin, but responsible for contingencies (i.e. expected enrollments vs students who turn up on the day, getting shafted unexpectedly by Marsden Fund grants, etc).

                      My opinion on government double-tapping is that they want students to pay for the “private good” value of their education, which to me reduces the incentive to actually get an education that will provide the public good of an educated population. Universities exist to exist, rather than as direct revenue generators, but I know of a few people who got a long term degree and all the while their schoolmates were getting a modest but healthy income in jobs that required good performance and little more than operators’ certificates, e.g. forklift driving.

                      A couple of them regret getting an education, which is what we don’t want in this country. They get better paying jobs, but spend years playing catchup particularly on compounding retirement savings. Hell, I’m down multiple tens of thousands of dollars on that alone, let alone the loan itself.

      • blue leopard 6.1.2
        20 December 2012 at 5:05 pm

        Additionally:
        ” I don’t think it is unreasonable that there should be some level of private investment in it. I think the SL scheme we have at the moment is a good compromise.”

        People who are educated, not only provide a much needed service to society, they are also usually in a higher tax bracket. I do not think this “income generating” quality of education is factored into the “good compromise” conclusion.

        • Lanthanide 6.1.2.1
          20 December 2012 at 8:56 pm

          Effectively you’re saying that when you earn in the higher tax bracket, all of that tax you’re paying there goes back to paying for your education at that point.

          Ok, even if we accept that: how are you going to deal with people getting an education on the state who skip off overseas and therefore don’t pay any of this tax?

          • blue leopard 6.1.2.1.1
            20 December 2012 at 10:32 pm

            I’m saying that when some bright spark came up with the idea of making people go into debt for their education, I don’t believe ALL the costs were factored in. I believe if they were, then this approach wouldn’t be pursued, let alone called “generous”.

            What is the Government doing now about the students going overseas and not paying back the debt they owe?

            • Lanthanide 6.1.2.1.1.1
              20 December 2012 at 11:26 pm

              If you go overseas, your student loan starts accruing interest at 7%. There used to be a 2 year honeymoon period and they’re dropping it to 1 year.

              They’ve also been hitting up ex-pat students with overdue debt recently and apparently it has been pretty successful, targeting people who live in Oz.

              http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7715188/IRD-scoops-up-32m-in-student-loan-debt

              “Every dollar spent on the pilot scheme has returned $11.40 of taxpayers’ money.

              In the next 2 years, the IRD will extend the campaign to about 57,000 other borrowers, with the focus mainly on Australia and the United Kingdom.”

              • McFliper …
                20 December 2012 at 11:44 pm

                I have two issues with this. Beyond the fact that people are expected to pay for their education before they know if there’s a “private good” factor at all.

                Firstly, all this means is that people have an incentive to go somewhere that their debt isn’t as legally enforceable as Aus.
                Secondly, accruing the interest and delivering a bill increases the incentive to disappear overseas and never return.

                If there’s no cost to pay, there’s not that particular fiscal barrier to returning.

                I’d like people to get experience overseas for ten years or so and then return as very well qualified and experienced NZers. Help with the doctor shortage. A massive public good in that.

                • Lanthanide …
                  21 December 2012 at 7:13 am

                  Yes, but at the same time it’s a good little lever to encourage graduates to stay in NZ.

                  Certainly it’s much better than the ridiculous right-wing whingeing about “middle-class welfare”, where they suggest putting interest back on student loans. If that was the case, I would likely be in Australia already and my Phd boyfriend definitely would be.

                  • McFliper …
                    21 December 2012 at 2:56 pm

                    I reckon we win when graduates go off on an extended OE and then come back with new skills and ideas we don’t have here.

      • Plan B 6.1.3
        21 December 2012 at 5:48 pm

        Higher education can be paid out of a progressive taxation system. Putting children in debt is a crime against our children one for which they will not forgive us for.

  7. Why 7
    20 December 2012 at 5:14 pm

    Why not roll back the tax cuts twice?
    Just to get things moving in the right direction.
    I also agree with the idea that higher incomes via higher education will pay back to society via paying more tax.

  8. Robert Atack 8
    20 December 2012 at 8:42 pm

    Don’t know if this has been suggested above?
    But how about taxing the biggest sacred cow – financial transactions?

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Tax incentive to boost housing passes third reading
    Legislation to enable more build-to-rent developments has passed its third reading in Parliament, so this type of rental will be able to claim interest deductibility in perpetuity where it meets the requirements. Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods, says the changes will help unlock the potential of the build-to-rent sector and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago

  • Law levels playing field for low-emissions commuting
    A law passed by Parliament today exempts employers from paying fringe benefit tax on certain low emission commuting options they provide or subsidise for their staff.  “Many employers already subsidise the commuting costs of their staff, for instance by providing car parks,” Environment Minister David Parker said.  “This move supports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago

  • 40 years of Closer Economic Relations with Australia
    Today marks the 40th anniversary of Closer Economic Relations (CER), our gold standard free trade agreement between New Zealand and Australia. “CER was a world-leading agreement in 1983, is still world-renowned today and is emblematic of both our countries’ commitment to free trade. The WTO has called it the world’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago

  • Amendments to mass arrivals legislation
    The Government is making procedural changes to the Immigration Act to ensure that 2013 amendments operate as Parliament intended.   The Government is also introducing a new community management approach for asylum seekers. “While it’s unlikely we’ll experience a mass arrival due to our remote positioning, there is no doubt New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago

  • Progress on public service pay adjustment
    The Government welcomes progress on public sector pay adjustment (PSPA) agreements, and the release of the updated public service pay guidance by the Public Service Commission today, Minister for the Public Service Andrew Little says. “More than a dozen collective agreements are now settled in the public service, Crown Agents, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago

  • Further legislation introduced to support cyclone recovery
    The Government has introduced the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill to further support the recovery and rebuild from the recent severe weather events in the North Island. “We know from our experiences following the Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes that it will take some time before we completely understand the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Duty relief for cyclone-affected businesses
    Further assistance is now available to businesses impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle, with Customs able to offer payment plans and to remit late-payments, Customs Minister Meka Whaitiri has announced. “This is part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to assist economic recovery in the regions,” Meka Whaitiri said. “Cabinet has approved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Thousands of sole parents to be better off after child support changes
    More than 41,000 sole parent families will be better off with a median gain of $20 a week Law change estimated to help lift up to 14,000 children out of poverty Child support payments will be passed on directly to people receiving a sole parent rate of main benefit, making ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Green investment fund delivers on climate action
    A major investment by Government-owned New Zealand Green Investment Finance towards electrifying the public bus fleet is being welcomed by Climate Change Minister James Shaw. “Today’s announcement that NZGIF has signed a $50 million financing deal with Kinetic, the biggest bus operator in Australasia, to further decarbonise public transport is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Tax credit boosts cash flow for Kiwi innovators
    A world-leading payments system is expected to provide a significant cash flow boost for Kiwi innovators, Minister of Research, Science, and Innovation Ayesha Verrall says. Announcing that applications for ‘in-year’ payments of the Research and Development Tax Incentive (RDTI) were open, Ayesha Verrall said it represented a win for businesses ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Te Awa shared path completed
    Minister of Transport Michael Wood joined crowds of keen cyclists and walkers this morning to celebrate the completion of the Te Awa shared path in Hamilton. “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, greener, and more efficient for now and future generations to come,” Michael ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Crown apology to Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua
    Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little has delivered the Crown apology to Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua for its historic breaches of Te Tiriti of Waitangi today. The ceremony was held at Queen Elizabeth Park in Masterton, hosted by Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua, with several hundred ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Minister of Foreign Affairs meets with Chinese counterpart
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta has concluded her visit to China, the first by a New Zealand Foreign Minister since 2018. The Minister met her counterpart, newly appointed State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Qin Gang, who also hosted a working dinner. This was the first engagement between the two ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government delivering world-class satellite positioning services
    World-class satellite positioning services that will support much safer search and rescue, boost precision farming, and help safety on construction sites through greater accuracy are a significant step closer today, says Land Information Minister Damien O’Connor. Damien O’Connor marked the start of construction on New Zealand’s first uplink centre for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • District Court Judges appointed
    Attorney-General David Parker has announced the appointment of Christopher John Dellabarca of Wellington, Dr Katie Jane Elkin of Wellington, Caroline Mary Hickman of Napier, Ngaroma Tahana of Rotorua, Tania Rose Williams Blyth of Hamilton and Nicola Jan Wills of Wellington as District Court Judges.  Chris Dellabarca Mr Dellabarca commenced his ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Notes of an address to the Environmental Defence Society Conference, Auckland
    Tēnā koutou katoa. Can I begin by thanking Gary Taylor, Raewyn Peart and others in the EDS team for their herculean work in support of the environment. I’d also like to acknowledge Hon Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, my parliamentary colleagues, and the many activists here who strive ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New project set to supercharge ocean economy in Nelson Tasman
    A new Government-backed project will help ocean-related businesses in the Nelson Tasman region to accelerate their growth and boost jobs. “The Nelson Tasman region is home to more than 400 blue economy businesses, accounting for more than 30 percent of New Zealand’s economic activity in fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • National’s education policy: where’s the funding?
    After three years of COVID-19 disruptions schools are finally settling down and National want to throw that all in the air with major disruption to learning and underinvestment.  “National’s education policy lacks the very thing teachers, parents and students need after a tough couple of years, certainty and stability,” Education ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Free programme to help older entrepreneurs and inventors
    People aged over 50 with innovative business ideas will now be able to receive support to advance their ideas to the next stage of development, Minister for Seniors Ginny Andersen said today. “Seniors have some great entrepreneurial ideas, and this programme will give them the support to take that next ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Government target increased to keep powering up the Māori economy
    A cross government target for relevant government procurement contracts for goods and services to be awarded to Māori businesses annually will increase to 8%, after the initial 5% target was exceeded. The progressive procurement policy was introduced in 2020 to increase supplier diversity, starting with Māori businesses, for the estimated ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Continued progress on reducing poverty in challenging times
    77,000 fewer children living in low income households on the after-housing-costs primary measure since Labour took office Eight of the nine child poverty measures have seen a statistically significant reduction since 2018. All nine have reduced 28,700 fewer children experiencing material hardship since 2018 Measures taken by the Government during ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Speech at Fiji Investment and Trade Business Forum
    Deputy Prime Minister Kamikamica; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Tēnā koutou katoa, ni sa bula vinaka saka, namaste. Deputy Prime Minister, a very warm welcome to Aotearoa. I trust you have been enjoying your time here and thank you for joining us here today. To all delegates who have travelled to be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Government investments boost and diversify local economies in lower South Island
    $2.9 million convertible loan for Scapegrace Distillery to meet growing national and international demand $4.5m underwrite to support Silverlight Studios’ project to establish a film studio in Wanaka Gore’s James Cumming Community Centre and Library to be official opened tomorrow with support of $3m from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Pasifka Futures Whānau Ora Conference
    [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY]  E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā tangata katoa, o moana-nui-a-kiwa, E ngā mate, haere, haere, haere atū ra, manuia lau Malaga. Thank you for the kind introduction and opportunity to join you this morning. It is always good to be here in Aukilani, where I ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Alzheimers New Zealand conference – Opening Address
    E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga iwi, tēnā koutou katoa. Talofa lava and thank you Catherine, for the warm welcome. I’m sorry that I can’t be there in person today but it’s great for the opportunity to contribute virtually.  I’d like to start by acknowledging: Alzheimers New Zealand, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Government future-proofs EV charging
    Transport Minister Michael Wood has today launched the first national EV (electric vehicle) charging strategy, Charging Our Future, which includes plans to provide EV charging stations in almost every town in New Zealand. “Our vision is for Aotearoa New Zealand to have world-class EV charging infrastructure that is accessible, affordable, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • World-leading family harm prevention campaign supports young NZers
    Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan has today launched the Love Better campaign in a world-leading approach to family harm prevention. Love Better will initially support young people through their experience of break-ups, developing positive and life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. “Over 1,200 young kiwis told ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • First Chief Clinical Advisor welcomed into Coroners Court
    Hon Rino Tirikatene, Minister for Courts, welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s appointment of Dr Garry Clearwater as New Zealand’s first Chief Clinical Advisor working with the Coroners Court. “This appointment is significant for the Coroners Court and New Zealand’s wider coronial system.” Minister Tirikatene said. Through Budget 2022, the Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Next steps for affected properties post Cyclone and floods
    The Government via the Cyclone Taskforce is working with local government and insurance companies to build a picture of high-risk areas following Cyclone Gabrielle and January floods. “The Taskforce, led by Sir Brian Roche, has been working with insurance companies to undertake an assessment of high-risk areas so we can ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • New appointment to Māori Land Court bench
    E te huia kaimanawa, ko Ngāpuhi e whakahari ana i tau aupikinga ki te tihi o te maunga. Ko te Ao Māori hoki e whakanui ana i a koe te whakaihu waka o te reo Māori i roto i te Ao Ture. (To the prized treasure, it is Ngāpuhi who ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Government focus on jobs sees record number of New Zealanders move from Benefits into work
    113,400 exits into work in the year to June 2022 Young people are moving off Benefit faster than after the Global Financial Crisis Two reports released today by the Ministry of Social Development show the Government’s investment in the COVID-19 response helped drive record numbers of people off Benefits and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Vertical farming partnership has upward momentum
    The Government’s priority to keep New Zealand at the cutting edge of food production and lift our sustainability credentials continues by backing the next steps of a hi-tech vertical farming venture that uses up to 95 per cent less water, is climate resilient, and pesticide-free. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Conference of Pacific Education Ministers – Keynote Address
    E nga mana, e nga iwi, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou kātoa. Warm Pacific greetings to all. It is an honour to host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Aotearoa is delighted to be hosting you ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New $13m renal unit supports Taranaki patients
    The new renal unit at Taranaki Base Hospital has been officially opened by the Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall this afternoon. Te Huhi Raupō received around $13 million in government funding as part of Project Maunga Stage 2, the redevelopment of the Taranaki Base Hospital campus. “It’s an honour ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Second Poseidon aircraft on home soil
    Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the country’s second P-8A Poseidon aircraft alongside personnel at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base at Ohakea today. “With two of the four P-8A Poseidons now on home soil this marks another significant milestone in the Government’s historic investment in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Further humanitarian aid for Türkiye and Syria
    Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further humanitarian support to those seriously affected by last month’s deadly earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. “The 6 February earthquakes have had devastating consequences, with almost 18 million people affected. More than 53,000 people have died and tens of thousands more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Community voice to help shape immigration policy
    Migrant communities across New Zealand are represented in the new Migrant Community Reference Group that will help shape immigration policy going forward, Immigration Minister Michael Wood announced today.  “Since becoming Minister, a reoccurring message I have heard from migrants is the feeling their voice has often been missing around policy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • State Highway 3 project to deliver safer journeys, better travel connections for Taranaki
    Construction has begun on major works that will deliver significant safety improvements on State Highway 3 from Waitara to Bell Block, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan announced today. “This is an important route for communities, freight and visitors to Taranaki but too many people have lost their lives or ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Ginny Andersen appointed as Minister of Police
    Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Government confirms vital roading reconnections
    Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-03-28T06:18:39+00:00