Sanctions. Weapons of War.

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, March 18th, 2018 - 53 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, class war, Europe, International, Left, Politics, Propaganda, Russia, uk politics, uncategorized, us politics - Tags: ,

There’s a lengthy piece in today’s “Independent” that claims to take inspiration from a two hundred year old travelogue “A Journey from St Petersburg to Moscow“. It’s the usual Russian propaganda. Photographs of grey skies, poor people, empty shelves and cold weather. And of course, people are a bit dim, ill-informed and struggling.

But if it’s really the case that Russians are “doing it hard”, then why are we (the western public) being asked to “get in behind” further sanctions being imposed on the country?

I’ve no doubt that things in Russia are pretty dire for many, many people. The country was ripped apart and its assets ripped off following the collapse of one party rule in the 90’s. And the people who ripped off their fellow citizens are living it up in exile in New York, London and elsewhere. So why won’t “our” governments accede to extradition requests for those people? Why are those people  being allowed to live the life of Riley as part of the ‘wealthy set’ in fashionable cities through-out the west?

If we come across a poor person in the street, do we break their legs in order that they stop walking into hardship and poverty? If the answer is “no”, then why seek to impose sanctions on a country when the effects are akin to the breaking of legs?

If we come across a person who’s just been beaten up and ripped off, do we sit down and have a drink and a laugh with the person who assaulted and robbed them? Again, if the answer is “no”, then what the hell are we thinking when we say that Russia (a country most definitely assaulted and robbed) ought to have sanctions imposed on it, while the people who did the assaulting and robbing enjoy “our” protection and not a few privileges courtesy of their ill gotten gains?

It troubles me that people identifying as being somehow “left” seem keen to identify with a class of elites (“our” elites) who would impose hardship and misery on millions of people for the purpose of turning those people away from supporting people our elites don’t like. For one thing, it doesn’t work. It didn’t work in Iraq (though it killed millions) and it isn’t working in Syria (though it’s killing people there too) and it won’t work in the case of Russia.

As a working class, white skinned male, I have no shared sense of  identity with elites of whatever country. As a working class, white skinned male, I do have a shared sense of identity with the working classes and peasants of whatever country. And if you’re calling for harm to be inflicted on them (and I don’t give a shit for any supposed “humanitarian” justification that seeks to excuse inhumanity), then where-ever it is that you think you’re standing, class war only has two sides, and you’re certainly not standing on the same side as me.

 

53 comments on “Sanctions. Weapons of War. ”

  1. Ad 1

    Definitely time to have a discussion about both the use and the morality of economic sanctions.

    I remember discussing this with you some other time re Iraq – and it was really hard to go through some of those old NYT links, and then squint hard and hyperventilate into a paper bag to make those morally worthy on balance. So many years, so much damage.

    And then, North Korea. Sanction upon sanction. Who the hell knows whether it is the leader and his policies or the sanctions that are more culpable for human suffering. But out of the blue after the last round of sanctions – and great diplomatic efforts from South Korea’s new President – a huge diplomatic breakthrough.

    It is really, really hard to see so much of the international political order fail at once. Particularly when Nikki Hayley at the UN is weaponising votes-for-aid for undeveloped countries, and her President is weaponising trade.

    It’s like the Arctic cap breaking up replicates the decline of cross-national cooperation and enforcement as a human concept.

  2. KJT 2

    Why?

    The USA invades Iraq, Indonesia commits murder in West Papua, The Saudi’s are massacring Yemeni’s, Israel is committing genocide in Palastine, The Turks are murdering Kurds. Half the countries we trade with are Dictatorships, with total contempt for human rights. Britain imprisons people after secret trials, as our law also allows. Our Government treats Democracy with contempt, regularly ignoring our rights and wishes.
    The USA drops drones on wedding parties.

    BUT Russia?

  3. Stuart Munro 3

    A good point.

    Sanctions are difficult to apply to the most guilty, and the world is not threatened by Ivan Denisovich having access to butter or apples.

    But I recall the so-called ‘smart sanctions’ NZ applied to Fiji, which needlessly antagonized an unfortunate student at Massey who was neither culpable in any meaningful way or positively influenced by the experience.

    It is probably the movement of money, arms, and in some instances the people involved that should be constrained. It was the money and arms after all that put criminal exiles in Malta in a position to have Daphne Caruana Galizia killed.

    A good smart sanction might be to go after the trusts that she discovered Mossack Fonseca had set up in NZ.

  4. francesca 4

    Totally agree with you Bill
    And I would go one further and question why those criminal Russian elites are always
    portrayed as” victims of the Kremlin” having “.fallen out with Putin”.
    They come to London crying out political persecution and are eagerly taken up by the London elites for their money and their propaganda value
    If they start winding up dead on the high end streets of London or the leafy lanes of Surrey, I would be looking to turf wars and gangster,/black market connections first
    I’m not talking here about Skripal, so please ,no pulling out the pin on the grenades
    As far as sanctions go, they circumvent the rules of the WTO, and also there is the hope that the suffering people of whatever country is in the cross hairs, will rise up and overthrow “the oppressor”
    Tillerson was recently bragging that empty N.Korean fishing boats, their crews dead have started washing up on the coasts of Japan
    Fuel embargoes and food shortages mean that fishing boats set off with inadequate fuel, run out ,the crews drift and die.

    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-northkorea-missiles-tillerson/tillerson-evidence-sanctions-really-starting-to-hurt-north-korea-idUKKBN1F62V4

    And they like to call it diplomacy

  5. Carolyn_Nth 5

    Hence why Corbyn was calling for action against the wealthy Russian oligarchs in the UK:

    And our capacity to deal with outrages from Russia is compromised by the tidal wave of ill-gotten cash that Russian oligarchs – both allied with and opposed to the Russian government – have laundered through London over the past two decades. We must stop servicing Russian crony capitalism in Britain, and the corrupt billionaires who use London to protect their wealth.

    So I will not step back from demanding that Russian money be excluded from our political system.

    Corbyn does however, also agree with sanctions, if there is proof the Russian state are responsible fr the Skripal hit.

    But, if Russia is proved to be responsible, isn’t that a case for the UN and the international criminal court?

    • francesca 5.1

      Pity UK and Russia don’t have a bilateral extradition treaty
      Maybe they could do a swap, instead of spies, criminals
      Corbyn’s fearless

  6. The Tories’ and their supporters’ reliance on Russian money (ie the profits from money-laundering for the oligarchs) is one reason why the Russian government can act with impunity against its enemies in the UK. Cracking down on the money-laundering would hurt the people running Russia far more than sanctions could.

    That said:

    1. Sanctions are metaphorical weapons of war, as opposed to actual weapons of war like polonium-210 or chemical agents.

    2. Poverty in Russia isn’t due to EU sanctions, which consist of:
    * An asset freeze on certain individuals and organisations.
    * Restrictions on economic engagement with Crimea.
    * Limits on access to the EU for a number of Russian banks and companies.
    * A ban on trade in arms and dual-use products.
    * Ban on exchanging particular high-tech information with Russian companies.

    • adam 6.1

      Your a bit delusional if you think the elites in Russia won’t make the poor pay for any restrictions on them. They always have, and they always will.

    • Bill 6.2

      The (apparently) on-going financial crisis in Russia which began in late 2014 has two principle drivers; the collapse in the oil price and sanctions.

      So I wouldn’t go trying to sell the notion that sanctions are somehow not literal, or their effects not real, or otherwise fairly benign and “smart” (as in “smart bombs”).

      When an economy collapses or gets in trouble, it’s generally the poorer people in society that suffer most. As we know.

      • Psycho Milt 6.2.1

        Three principle drivers: oil prices, sanctions, and being run by a mafia kleptocracy. Of those three, oil prices and bad governance are the most significant.

        The effects of sanctions are real, otherwise they wouldn’t be used. They beat the shit out of actual warfare, though.

        • Bill 6.2.1.1

          They beat the shit out of actual warfare, though.

          Sure. Except that they are warfare (just not “conventional” war as we’re taught to think of it).

          So when Iraqi children died in their hundreds of thousands because medical equipment was deemed to be dual purpose; because vital infrastructure couldn’t be repaired because dual purpose ; because banks and businesses couldn’t access international credit lines or trade internationally, meaning the economy was crippled and people died as a result…

          ….that’s just so much more ‘civilised’ than your idea of warfare. Much more sanitised. More distant. Almost invisible.

          Actually, bar walloping severed heads and diseased corpses over borders, and bar the sheer scale of it, it’s really not any different to the “oh so civilised” sieges of medieval Europe and a tonne of other times and places we lie to ourselves we’ve left behind in darker times – less civilised times – that we peer back on through the glorious lens of liberal progress.

          • Psycho Milt 6.2.1.1.1

            “Civilised,” bollocks. Sanctions are not the same as warfare, just like refusing to talk to someone is not the same as king-hitting them and giving them a good kicking. Neither’s very nice, but there’s only so much pretending everything’s fine that you can do, and one of the alternatives is a hell of a lot less drastic than the other.

            • Bill 6.2.1.1.1.1

              Less drastic? You mean the millions of Iraqis killed because of sanctions (One and a half “the price was worth it” [Albright] million children) was somehow less drastic than the fewer number of deaths that resulted from overt military action?

              You’re free to hold that view I guess. It’s not one I’m going to understand.

              • The question of whether they were killed by sanctions or the murderous dictatorship running their country is one that could, and has, filled a lot of comments threads. Russia, unlike Iraq, is fortunate enough to have a kleptocrat rather than a Baath party dictator running things, so “sanctions” haven’t killed anybody, and won’t.

  7. Pat 7

    You’re right to point out who suffers under sanctions…and it is seldom those who deserve to ….however, and there is always one, short of armed conflict what options are there?

    The latest events in the UK raises the question (again) of ‘who runs this town?’

    Democracies elect representatives to administer society on their behalf…they may fail to do a good job and they may be unduly influenced by vested interest but at least if enough voters disapprove of their actions they can be removed and (hopefully) wider public good restored.

    The same cannot be said of the likes of Russia.

    Is it acceptable that a foreign state can effectively impose their own rule (and a rule by fear and death) upon a section of society especially when that law is diametrically opposed to that which has been approved by the democratic process and in breach of human decency? What are the consequences of ignoring such acts?

    For all its many faults western democracy is indeed the best of a set of poor options …and the best way to ensure it dosn’t deteriorate further is to engage….because the alternative may look like Russia or the (linked) following.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/15/mother-son-kneecapped-northern-ireland-brexit-border

    • Poission 7.1

      Parents of young people about to be shot by paramilitaries are plying them with alcohol or powerful painkillers before their “appointments”, the Chief Constable has said.

      https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-parents-giving-kids-drugs-before-being-shot-by-paramilitaries-says-police-chief-36702065.html

    • Nic the NZer 7.2

      “For all its many faults western democracy is indeed the best of a set of poor options …and the best way to ensure it dosn’t deteriorate further is to engage….because the alternative may look like Russia or the (linked) following”

      You do realize that Northern Ireland is a part of the UK don’t you?

      • Pat 7.2.1

        Oddly enough yes…just as Im aware that Sicily and Naples (and numerous other examples that could be applied) are part of democracies….and you even quoted the part about engagement!…go figure.

        • Nic the NZer 7.2.1.1

          So your saying if the UK doesn’t engage it may start to look like part of the UK.

          I totally understand. /sarc

          • Pat 7.2.1.1.1

            Baby steps for you…

            Democracy is fragile

            There are two main internal threats to its intended function…corruption and polarisation…the two are reinforcing of each other.

            The discussion re response to the latest attack on a Russian expat in the UK has amply demonstrated (increasing imo) polarisation in our own democracy.
            There are plenty of others.

            When democracy fails the alternatives are not what could be described as desirable…i gave two examples.

            If we wish to maintain a functioning democracy its about time we realised that extreme positions that do not attract wide support are counterproductive.

            Compromise is not a dirty word, it is what makes democracy work.

    • KJT 7.3

      “they can be removed and (hopefully) wider public good restored.”

      Joke.

      • Pat 7.3.1

        maybe …thats why the brackets…however the opportunity remains if enough so choose….can the same be said of say Russia?

  8. Sanctuary 8

    There are two strands to this Skripal business.

    First, did Russia do it (and if so, did Putin order it or has the gangster state gone rogue)?

    I have little doubt the Russians did it and that Putin ordered it. Putin is a very dangerous autocrat who runs an economically puny (it’s economy is only slightly bigger than the CER partners Australia and New Zealand – Russia would probably lose a war in the Pacific against the ANZAC middle power) but resource rich, nuclear armed ex-super power. Russian/Soviet military doctrine has for almost 100 years placed great emphasis on what they call maskirovka, or the subtle art of deception of the enemy through deception, denial, disinformation and the manipulation of facts. The manipulation of information via cyberwarfare, troll armies and until recently unchecked propaganda (RT being a good old fashioned example) is entirely in keeping with this tradition and thus it is hardly surprising they would adapt it to the information age.

    As a low level KGB official with a cushy job and nice digs in a desirable foreign posting in Dresden Putin saw the fall of the USSR from his balcony and drew every wrong conclusion. He saw not the crumbling of an unsustainable system, but a failure to ruthlessly apply Soviet power to crush the rebellions. Putin and his henchmen deride the rule of law and despise weakness. They perceive the west as morally weak and democracy easily manipulated. And via this manipulation and brazen acts of lawlessness, backed by their decrepit nuclear arsenal, they seek to hide their criminality and military and economic weakness.

    Secondly, what, if anything, should we in NZ do about it? On the one hand, the days of reflexively supporting the UK in it’s every conflict are over. And a trade deal with Russia would provide a timely alternative market to China, the reliance on which is apparently something that worries Winston Peters. So what do we care about a spat between Britain and Russia about an attempted assassination in an obscure market town 20,000km away? But on the other hand New Zealand’s foreign policy as a small and vulnerable trading nation has been always to reinforce the rule of international law and to seek nations to behave in a legal and civilised manner. Putin’s Russia is an outlaw gangster state run as a series of semi-feudal fiefdoms by gangster billionaire oligarchs who owe their fortunes to Putin’s favour. The behaviour of the Russian state is currently recklessly aggressive and it’s policy appears to be to distract the population from their dire economic situation with paranoia (against foreigners, gays, and traitors) and to weaponise the information age in order to weaken it’s supposed enemies.

    As much as we want, it hard to justify trading with such awful people. But then, you could say the same thing of the lawless butchers of Beijing, and they are our major trading partner by far.

    So i guess it a matter of how much you have to stink before even holding our nose to trade with you isn’t enough.

    • Kaya3 8.1

      Wow, just wow.
      The people of this country have lost the plot totally. The only thing you said that made any sense was “They perceive the west as morally weak and democracy easily manipulated.”
      That is 100% correct. We are totally morally weak,have you looked at what is on TV every night?? MAFS? The Block? ffs
      As for our “democracy” – it’s a total farce. Like Jacinda, the saviour of the left, whoops, centre right.

      When the idiots in Whitehall get their wish and start a thermonuclear war over allegations totally without a shred of proof it will be pleasing to know that at least NZ had the balls to take the moral high ground and not run with the baying pack……..oh wait. That must have been someone else.

  9. adam 9

    Maybe if the elites dropped the whole facade of not killing each other directly, then this would be a better world. Why don’t May take a knife and go kill Putan if she has a problem with him. Or Trump for that matter. If they have a problem talk or fight amongst yourselves.

    Leave us out of your crap.

  10. KJT 10

    “Putin’s Russia is an outlaw gangster state run as a series of semi-feudal fiefdoms by gangster billionaire oligarchs who owe their fortunes to Putin’s favour. The behaviour of the Russian state is currently recklessly aggressive and it’s policy appears to be to distract the population from their dire economic situation with paranoia (against foreigners, gays, and traitors) and to weaponise the information age in order to weaken it’s supposed enemies”.

    An excellent description of the USA since Citizens United, also. Why do we want to trade with them?

    • Kaya3 10.1

      Exactly what i was thinking but couldn’t be bothered wasting the energy on someone who could write a piece of nonsense like that.

  11. Sanctuary 11

    “…An excellent description of the USA since Citizens United, also. Why do we want to trade with them..?”

    I am pretty sure it is easier to be queer in San Francisco than it is St. Petersburg.

    • KJT 11.1

      Until recently it was easier to be queer in San Francisco, than Wellington.
      Can’t see what that has to do with the subject.

    • One Two 11.2

      Perhaps you don’t realise it, Sanctury…

      But with that single comment you’ve articulated where preferences and bias merge and become a blindfold…

      One of the very worst ‘rationales’ I’ve read…anywhere…

  12. Carolyn_Nth 12

    This guy’s blog is an interesting read.

    Craig Murray.

    Has a background in the UK diplomatic service.

    Has written books on espionage – some based on Uzbekistan where he was once ambassador.

    post “Of A Type Developed By Liars” 16 March 2018

    I have now received confirmation from a well placed FCO source that Porton Down scientists are not able to identify the nerve agent as being of Russian manufacture, and have been resentful of the pressure being placed on them to do so. Porton Down would only sign up to the formulation “of a type developed by Russia” after a rather difficult meeting where this was agreed as a compromise formulation. The Russians were allegedly researching, in the “Novichok” programme a generation of nerve agents which could be produced from commercially available precursors such as insecticides and fertilisers. This substance is a “novichok” in that sense.

    When the same extremely careful phrasing is never deviated from, you know it is the result of a very delicate Whitehall compromise.

    Until this week, the near universal belief among chemical weapons experts, and the official position of the OPCW, was that “Novichoks” were at most a theoretical research programme which the Russians had never succeeded in actually synthesising and manufacturing. That is why they are not on the OPCW list of banned chemical weapons.

    Porton Down is still not certain it is the Russians who have apparently synthesised a “Novichok”. Hence “Of a type developed by Russia”. Note developed, not made, produced or manufactured.

    It is very carefully worded propaganda. Of a type developed by liars.

    Post 17 March 2018 “First Recorded Successful Novichok Synthesis was in 2016 – By Iran, in Cooperation with the OPCW 127”

    I have now been sent the vital information that in late 2016, Iranian scientists set out to study whether novichoks really could be produced from commercially available ingredients. Iran succeeded in synthesising a number of novichoks. Iran did this in full cooperation with the OPCW and immediately reported the results to the OPCW so they could be added to the chemical weapons database.

    He links to his 14 March post in which he claims evidence that the Novickok claim is a scam.

    • Stuart Munro 12.1

      He seems to be running the “liar” line pretty hard.

      What analysis is able to prove is not always as much as you’d like. If, as has been stated by May, the agent is of the Novichok type, but not provably of Russian manufacture so far.

      What did Murray want the chemists to do? Lie that it was provably manufactured in Russia, or lie that it was NOT of the Novichok type? He does have the odd piece of information but his aim is clearly to muddy the waters by slandering the chemists, who thus far seem not to have stepped outside the bounds of prudent professionalism.

    • Bill 12.2

      He has a few bits and pieces up on youtube too. Some are very much worth the time to watch.

      • Carolyn_Nth 12.2.1

        Thanks. Just about all the references to him on Skripal are from non-English speaking countries – some European, I think.

        The reporting from English language countries seems to conform mostly to the UK government line.

    • SPC 12.3

      Which would be why the UK has decided it’s probably Russia, let’s act on that and move on. They had the form and motive … but it’s not so easy to prove … . And why the Russians said go on prove it … (coz if we did do it, we know you know you cannot prove it – or because we did not and so of course we will deny it and not believe you can prove we did it).

      For the Tories the good news is, because they cannot prove the Russians did it they can allow the money to flow from Russia into and around London without strong objection from Corbyn for now.

      • Carolyn_Nth 12.3.1

        What? Can’t prove it was Russia. So we’ll just blame them and punish them and move on!? That makes no sense in a law-based society.

        • SPC 12.3.1.1

          It’s how governments make issues go away. They pretend to have dealt with it. Not having identified a guilty party would have meant appearing weak. Rest assured little England you have a strong Tory government and you are safe … well this is the line being taken.

  13. Ad 13

    Under the US Department of Homeland Security, the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team have reported two days ago that Russia has infiltrated deep into the electricity and water and other utilities of the United States:

    https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA18-074A

    Further useful commentary from the New York Times, if you can get through the paywall:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/us/politics/russia-cyberattacks.html

    A wee while back, Wired prophecised that the way Russia was attaching the Ukraine energy system was a pretty important precursor for how it could attack other countries:

    https://www.wired.com/story/russian-hackers-attack-ukraine/

    Wikipedia has the summary of what happened in the Ukraine here:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2015_Ukraine_power_grid_cyberattack

    I want a retaliatory cyberwar between Russia and the U.S. as little as I want a hot war.

    What then – if sanctions are too clumsy – are the retaliatory actions available?

    • Bill 13.1

      Well, if you’re going to treat every announcement and every claim as some OMG! moment, then I guess you and your buddies might want to see some retaliatory action taken.

      I’ll just apply this small hopeful thought to all elites of all nationalities and territories. (Apparently) “the French aristocracy didn’t see it coming either”

      • Ad 13.1.1

        Nope, after the Ukraine, they really did see it coming.
        As cited.
        And they couldn’t stop it.
        As cited, from the actual US intelligence report itself.

        The better question, to the point of your post, what should they do next, if sanctions are not the answer?

        • Bill 13.1.1.1

          Ad, you’re assuming there is something to retaliate for. And you’re pushing that line quite hard.

          The point of the post was that we’re being asked to take sides – where neither side on offer is our side (hence the reference to the French aristocracy)

    • Pat 13.2

      It may be worth considering a couple of aspects of the Russian situation….

      They have a declining population and an economy under threat…they currently spend around double the percentage of their GDP( and considering the population a small economy) on their military as the west to the detriment of the health and wealth of their population….its now or never to improve their situation by any means available.

      And all this is compounded by the fact there is a moron in the Whitehouse….’interesting times’ dosnt really cover it.

    • One Two 13.3

      Can you guess which state ‘leads the world’ in ‘cybersecurity’ ?

      Ad…

  14. Sanctuary 14

    I guess any real retaliation we will never know about. For example, where DID those Chechens who blew up the Moscow underground train killing dozens in 2019 get their untraceable Czech semtex from? The British certainly wouldn’t know, and in fact her Majesty’s Government will be OUTRAGED at the atrocity…

  15. Anon 15

    So what’s the difference between sanctions and boycott?

  16. Lloyd 16

    When anyone complains about sanctions hurting the poor, please remember that when the cannon-fodder is sent to the front line in a ‘real’ war that almost always all those soldiers come from the poorest parts of the opposing armies’ societies.

    When we get bare-knuckle leaders fighting on reality TV we may have a better solution to conflicts between nations. It would make better TV than baking.

  17. Sceptical Honi 17

    Let us consider for a moment who benefits from Russia being named and blamed.
    It’s not Russia, nor Is it the UK, nor even Russia’s old enemy the USA. However, the USA comes close. But still the USA doesn’t have that kind of subtle track record for successfully playing the third man. However one of the USA’s client states does have that kind of track record, and stands to benefit from a weakened Russia.
    Israel I suspect is the culprit. There is no doubt Israel felt threatened by Russia’s role in Syria, and growing influence in the Middle East, just when the USA, and the UK seem to be pulling back. Israel has demonstrated repeatedly that it has no respect for human life or international law in its single minded, defence of the notion that it is rightfully the victim of all its neighbours both in the Middle East and much further abroad. Russia has never been viewed as a friend to the Jews either.
    Mossad has been described by analysts as one of the most active, if not the most active espionage agencies in the entire world, and very often plays the third man. Israel also has a reputation for its chemical, biological and weapons industries. So Israel has the means, the will, the ideology, and the bloody mindedness to have been the culprit. After all, if Russia wears the blame, their claim on UK support if Middle East conflict flares is only enhanced. Israel’s friends in Whitehall no doubt view the situation similarly.

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    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    14 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    14 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    15 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    15 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    16 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    17 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    19 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
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