Serial fondler accuses Labour of “backing rapists”

Written By: - Date published: 4:10 pm, November 10th, 2015 - 214 comments
Categories: accountability, john key - Tags: , , , , ,

Serial fondler of young persons’ hair and celebrity PM impersonator John Key lost it in Parliament today.

Unable to defend his unwillingness to speak up for Kiwis caught up in Australia’s Christmas Island fiasco, Key instead accused Labour of “backing rapists”.

The useless speaker David Carter defended the slur, leading to outrage and a large-scale walkout of Labour MPs.

Read all about it (and video) here.

Disgraceful stuff from Key and Carter.

214 comments on “Serial fondler accuses Labour of “backing rapists” ”

  1. CnrJoe 1

    video of Kelvin Davis being pushed aside by Key DPS IN Parliament AFTER Keyreepy was already gone
    https://twitter.com/CnrJoe/status/663918596427374592

    • srylands 1.1

      I don’t think that was “pushed”. I expected to see some biffo. The DPS guy simply extended his arm.

      I think referring to the Prime Minister as “Keyreepy” is very childish. You should show more respect for the office.

      • shorts 1.1.1

        while It think its a bad name if the holder of the office can’t show it any respect you can’t expect others to

      • ScottGN 1.1.2

        You mean the sort of respect for the office you show when you go on the radio and cheerily talk about the last time you were pissing in the shower or wanking?

      • The Prime Minister cannot expect respect for his office until he shows his own respect for his office and responsibilities. I agree that I don’t like seeing that sort of juvenile name calling applied to politicians, (I favour describing what they actually did, such as “John Key supports human rights abusers in front of the UN”) but John Key has earned some serious mockery.

        That said, I think the two key pieces of news here are that the PM is a miserable failure on human rights, and (apparently, although I can’t find video of it) that there was a motion of No Confidence in the Speaker, who has gone way beyond being a partisan hack in allowing this political theatre in the House of Representatives.

        • miravox 1.1.3.1

          I prefer to refer to the Prime Minister as ‘Prime Minister’. His behaviour can be assessed on that term rather than as some John having a laugh, and as a reminder he is the representative of the people NZ.

          e.g. “The Prime Minister supports human rights abusers in front of the UN”

      • CnrJoe 1.1.4

        Pardon? What? Keyreepy the N.Z PeeEmm? He identifies as a creep. I thought – initially – he was just a raging sociopath. Tantalising ponytail you have there…oh John,..leave the poor girl alone…You feed the chickens recently?…for fear of being sued by my wife…if it was Yes it would definitely be with my wife…

        https://www.facebook.com/RadioHauraki/videos/1137523586262641/

        Sry – watch. Revel in yr leaders respect for the office Then get back to me

      • tracey 1.1.5

        I think ignoring the PM’s systematic dishonouring of the Office of Prime Minister is the action of a dullard

        This is the PM whose government allowed a person charged with attempted rape to easily leave the country and then refused to deliver the promised apology to the alleged offender’s victim

        For those with short or selective memory spans

        “Asked whether he would apologise if he did know her name, Mr Key said: “Yes, in so much that I believe that she shouldn’t have had to go through what she went through.”

        Her name was subsequently revealled by her, presumably to enable him to make the apology, but he reneged

        http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/250320/pm-accused-of-breaking-word

        So on one level you could say Key puts the rights of an accused person (of attenpted rape) ahead of a NZ citizen.

        • weka 1.1.5.1

          I thought his accusing Labour of supporting rapists was the height of hypocrisy, but then him and the government are almost completely shameless in their bullshit.

          • Tracey 1.1.5.1.1

            Yup. It only took me 5 mins to google and find that link and post… so journos out there claiming they are time constrained…

      • Jenny Kirk 1.1.6

        How about it being time for the PM himself showing some respect for the office ?
        The guy has no dignity, he doesn’t know how to conduct himself in public or with the media, all he can do is fawn all-over so-called “celebrities” and royalty.

      • mary_a 1.1.7

        @ srylands (1.1) Ha Ha. Show respect for FJK’s office. You have to be joking of course, considering the mangy scourge of a PM demonstrates very little respect for his position of state and that of Parliament!

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.8

        You should show more respect for the office.

        Why? Especially when it’s presently filled by a serial liar.

      • Chris 1.1.9

        Extended his arm while walking towards Davis? Saying Davis wasn’t pushed is saying you’re a right wing ideologue without an original thought who’d rather lie than say anything critical of key and his gorillas.

        • srylands 1.1.9.1

          “his gorillas”

          You mean the members of the Diplomatic Protection Service? How old are you? six?

          And stop being stupid. I doubt that there are more than a handful of “right wing ideologues” in New Zealand and they are crackpots. There are certainly none in the current Government.

          Grow up.

          • Chris 1.1.9.1.1

            Am saying you are a right wing ideologue for trying to defend the indefensible. Davis was pushed or walked into. Either way it was an assault.

            • BM 1.1.9.1.1.1

              Assault would have been if he got an elbow strike between the eyes, followed by a leg sweep and then had his throat stomped on.

              Davis got slightly jostled at best.

              • McFlock

                ooo, you’re ever so butch

                Lucky for the rest of us that the crimes act and summary offences act have a different definition of “assault”, one that requires significantly less than the application of lethal force.

            • Nessalt 1.1.9.1.1.2

              according to your definition every labour unionist, every anti capitalism protester and most of the current shadow bench are guilty of assault.

          • McFlock 1.1.9.1.2

            I’d love to know what “protection” Key needs from a member of parliament who was standing in the lobby of parliament building.

            But yes, calling the man a “gorilla” is a bit harsh on gorillas. “Goon” would be more appropriate.

            • weka 1.1.9.1.2.1

              but! Needle nardle noo!

              • McFlock

                🙂

                Apparently the Christmas Island canteen building got burned.
                They need a jet-propelled NAAFI.

            • tracey 1.1.9.1.2.2

              Key doesn’t answer questions off the cuff…. doesn’t Davis know that?

              Key was in a rush, he needed to start learning his lines for the Brekkie show this morning

      • Matthew Hooton 1.1.10

        I agree. He wasn’t pushed aside. But nor did he yell at or abuse the PM. It all seemed quite polite on both sides. This bit of the day’s events looks like a media beat up to me.

        • Ovid 1.1.10.1

          You were pretty damning of the PM today, Matthew. Do you still think he lost some support in caucus?

          • Matthew Hooton 1.1.10.1.1

            No.

            • tracey 1.1.10.1.1.1

              Once the prominent NZer’s name is released, how do you think it will reflect on the entire caucus, all of whom sat in Parliament yesterday while Key said they don’t support child molesters? – Assuming the prominent NZr is found guilty of course?

              From memory that event is due in about April 2016, so getting closer to campaigning time?

        • Pascals bookie 1.1.10.2

          FWIW, journos were also jostled (or as they out it ‘barged’) in the rush.

          I suspect the DPS, who would have a pretty good handle on their charge’s level of courage, do their best to stop him from getting upset.

      • North 1.1.11

        SSLands…….”show some respect for the office” ???

        FFS ! That from a Key-Lover ???

      • Gabby 1.1.12

        Mustn’t be mean to Ponyboy, right dryglans?

      • Leftie 1.1.13

        @srylands

        Why should anyone show more respect for the office when John key himself doesn’t?

        Keyreepy is a fitting description of that weak PM, who is also a lying hypocrite.

      • linda 1.1.14

        well Keyreepy does like playing with kiddie hair that is a creepy weirdo thing to do

      • Anno1701 1.1.15

        “You should show more respect for the office.”

        pure gold……

    • Merlene 1.2

      Actually that contact can be called assault.

    • McFlock 1.3

      Well, that was more effort than they went to to protect a waitress from a hair fetishist.

  2. thentheresme 2

    So, just how many former National Party caucus members are being held for sex offences on Christmas Island?

  3. cardassian 3

    To be fair to Carter parliament couldn’t be offended, after all National are down with protecting child molesters.

  4. Mike Bond 4

    I would really like to know, just how many people actually support Davis and Labour in this instance? Unfortunately what Key said is very true. Are we now fighting for Kiwis that turned their back on this country many years ago, Kiwis that have not paid taxes here for many years? Kiwis that chose to commit crimes no matter how serious? If that is what Davis and Little want to support, they have just lost my support for ever!

    • vto 4.1

      Jeez, talk about missing the point

      No wonder we end up with people like Key as PM

    • McFlock 4.2

      good riddance to you, then.

      By the look of those conditions I wouldn’t keep a dog there. Even if we don’t like them, these people are human beings and deserve to be treated as such. This is happening on our doorstep and is being committed by our neighbours. Of course we have a responsibility to get involved.

      • NZJester 4.2.2

        Oh of course the PM is not worried about the conditions there as the facility is run by Serco who did such a great job running their private prison here in New Zealand. (Be sure to read this in a very sarcastic tone)

    • tracey 4.3

      Well the irony is that the Head of Our Government is more than likely a Kiwi that has not paid his fair share of taxes here for many years?

      We are measured by what we stand for when it feels inconvenient or icky to do so.

    • DoublePlusGood 4.5

      If Australia has chosen to violate their human rights, and chosen not to let them be Australians, and they are New Zealand citizens, then you betcha we’d better be doing everything we can to set matter right.

    • Lara 4.6

      Many of the people incarcerated have ALREADY done their time. Now they’re doing more in inhumane conditions because they’re being “processed” before being deported.

      There is a basic level of human rights we hold up. It’s a minimum acceptable standard for all of society, including those incarcerated and awaiting deportation.

      Australia are choosing to ignore those basic minimums and putting people in very dangerous and inhumane situations.

      Do you really think that’s okay Mike Bond?

      And don’t ask me to explain the inhumane conditions of which I am speaking. Google is your friend.

      • Tracey 4.6.1

        It bothers me if some of these posters really believe the shit their spouting rather than just trolling.

        Certainly we are becoming a nation dominated by voices who feel so smugly secure they can sneer and spit at others misfortunes with impunity. Same people probably earn over six figures and pretend to be ordinary kiwis

      • BM 4.6.2

        Australia doesn’t give a fuck what you or any one else thinks .

        Bit like Indonesia and the way they treat drug dealers or Saudi Arabia and how they treat women.

        Now that you know your opinion and outrage or anyone else’s means nothing, what do you propose would be the most effective course of action?

        • DoublePlusGood 4.6.2.1

          Full sanctions on Australia until they get their shit sorted might be a good start. Would wreck the economy, so I suggest we start with something minor, like putting a travel ban on all AU government members.

        • tracey 4.6.2.2

          But Turnbull said

          “Mr Turnbull praised his New Zealand counterpart and said he would model his leadership on Mr Key.
          “My firm belief is that to be a successful leader … you have to be able to bring people with you by respecting their intelligence in the manner you explain things,” Turnbull said.
          “We’ve got some great leaders in Australia at state level but let me just point to one internationally, John Key, for example.
          “John Key has been able to achieve very significant economic reforms in New Zealand by doing just that, by taking on and explaining complex issues and then making the case for them. And I, that is certainly something that I believe we should do and Julie and I are very keen to do that again.””

          Key could leverage his immense respect?

          What do you think about Key

          1. Implying there are lots of murderers and rapists on Christmas island, when there are not; and
          2. Not doing what he can to convince the Aussies to keep them and thus protect us all from these bad iuns?

    • Helen 4.7

      Agree Mike. Labour has well and truly lost touch with working class NZ’ers especially when they come out with this scraping the bottom of the barrel stuff. Throwing their support behind some of the worse sort of offenders, and yes believe it or not there are worse things than pulling pony tails, just goes to show Labour’s priorities. We’ve heard enough about the poor prisoners in our NZ jails and not content with that Labour are showing the love to the criminals in Australia. God I miss the old Labour, you know the party that used to support hard working NZ’ers. Not anymore. A complete own goal today for Labour.

      • tracey 4.7.1

        The old Labour ALWAYS championed human rights, not just when it fit with their (or your) sensibilities. MOST of the people on that island have committed NO criminal offence.

        Helen ignorance is an illness. We have a cure, its called education. Key has LIED again about this and you have fallen hook line and centre. HE is not the one fighting to keep these “awful” people in Australia, Labour is… Key’s rolled over and said nothing he can do, come home…

        There are a few links here that you can work your way through, Weka has kindly supplied.

        http://thestandard.org.nz/serial-fondler-accuses-labour-of-backing-rapists/#comment-1093626

    • Foreign Waka 4.8

      To Mike Bond – your comments are the same as any person pursuing exclusion be it for race, language, gender or any other trait that does not fit a standardized form. I hope you get the gist of that…

      The definition and purpose of the Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre has been to hold asylum seekers mostly but is now also used as a deportation centre.
      It is true that some of the people held on Christmas Island have done time for criminal offenses and this is also the reason they are there- to be deported. Lets be clear, they are not leaving at their own vocation.
      The riot as reported started after the death of an asylum seeker. It has to be remembered that the facility also houses mothers and their baby’s seeking refuge from countries with little or no human rights. It is truly a fire to fry pan experience.
      There are story’s of asylum seekers being put into solitary (?!). The UN human rights review has condemned the situation in Australia.

      And our Prime Minister still doesn’t get it!

    • Gabby 4.9

      Well, I don’t want them back here, and they don’t want to be back here.

    • Leftie 4.10

      @ Mike Bond.

      Missed the point much? and they are still New Zealanders suffering human rights abuses, that John key appears to condone because he doesn’t want to stand up to an old money trading mate who overthrew his leader for the PM’s job.

      You’re a National key worshipping follower, Labour never had your support in the first place.

    • Smilin 4.11

      While that is true the bigger picture is what is at stake here -Aust appalling human rights behaviour
      We should be making a very strong protest to the UN as Marama Davidson’s points of order were addressing

      • srylands 4.11.1

        What evidence do you have that the human rights of the detainees are being breached? Article 9 of the IDHR simply states:

        “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.”

        These people are being detained or a reason. It is not arbitrary.

        Australia is also applying the right of return under citizenship law. These people are not Australians.

        As for the fools that say JK should “stand up” to Australia. What a joke. What do you want him to do? What could Andrew Little do if he was PM? Nothing.

        The Australian Government is acting lawfully. Most voters have zero interest in this issue. The behaviour of the Labour Party on this is a sure route to losing the 2017 election.

        • vto 4.11.1.1

          The Australian Government was also acting lawfully when they issued licences to hunt and kill aborigines just a few decades ago

          good try though

    • tracey 4.12

      “they have just lost my support for ever”

      Cos until this matter you were an ardent supporter, aye Mike?

  5. McFlock 5

    And I was just reminded that National closed down Christchurch’s rape crisis centre last year.

    The hypocrisy of the man knows no bounds.

    • srylands 5.1

      “National” did not close down anything. The previous centre closed because it was insolvent. This is clear in the story you posted. Do you know why it was insolvent? Or do you think John Key personally made it insolvent?

      If the market wants a rape crisis centre there will be one. These things should be funded through philanthropy. And guess what? A new shiny rape crisis centre has emerged. A solvent one.

      http://www.avivafamilies.org.nz/Services/Sexual-Assault-Support-Service-Canterbury/

      • vto 5.1.1

        “If the market wants a rape crisis centre there will be one. These things should be funded through philanthropy.”

        Sorry? The market? Or philanthropy? How can both be done – you are a free market extremist

        You know, there is a thing called a community. Perhaps the community should fund it – now there’s an idea

      • Psycho Milt 5.1.2

        If the market wants a rape crisis centre there will be one.

        “Why Libertarianism Sucks,” number 35,966 in a series…

      • North 5.1.3

        You never cease to amaze SSLands.

        “If the ‘market’ wants a rape crisis centre there will be one.”

        Mmmm……if the ‘market’ wants rape, there will be rape ?

        Old SSLands and his ‘Farket Market’ aye ?

      • weka 5.1.4

        “If the market wants a rape crisis centre there will be one.”

        Wow, just wow.

        Besides which, what happened to the clients at the existing one who had long term relationships with counsellors? Or is rape recovery like going to an appliance repair person, it doesn’t really matter which one you see?

        And what happened to the staff and all their experience?

        This is why the neoliberals are fundamentally anti-human.

  6. tracey 6

    The irony goes further.

    This is the PM whose government allowed a person charged with attempted rape to easily leave the country and then refused to deliver the promised apology to the alleged offender’s victim

    For those with short or selective memory spans

    “Asked whether he would apologise if he did know her name, Mr Key said: “Yes, in so much that I believe that she shouldn’t have had to go through what she went through.”

    Her name was subsequently revealled by her, presumably to enable him to make the apology, but he reneged

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/250320/pm-accused-of-breaking-word

    So on one level you could say Key puts the rights of an accused person (of attenpted rape) ahead of a NZ citizen.

  7. Colonial Viper 7

    And another 50,000 NZers turn off NZ politics.

    • Bill 7.1

      Aw ffs! So now we get a

      ‘You support even bigger bastards more often than you insult us by saying that we support bastards – na na na na na’

      ‘No I don’t’

      ‘Yes you do’

      Ad fucking nauseam.

      How’s about sticking to the simple fact that the Prime Minister of New Zealand essentially stated that all (he didn’t qualify numbers or percentages) New Zealanders on Christmas Island are rapists or child molesters?

      And how about (Labour and Greens) you voice fucking outrage at that rather than because your poor wee sensibilities have been hurt by the suggestion that you’re on the side of rapists and child molesters….there’s a whole fucking world beyond the confines of your belly button.

  8. Stuart Munro 8

    As long as he can avoid actually doing his job or personal responsibility Key is tough on crime. Except by Gnat MPs. And policeman’s children. And Jason Ede.

    • Draco T Bastard 8.1

      +1

      Typical authoritarian behaviour – they look after their own and oppress everyone else.

      • Stuart Munro 8.1.1

        It raises an interesting constitutional issue – on the day when Burma is making positive progress on human rights – to whom are incarcerated New Zealanders to appeal since Key is clearly not acting in their interests. Do they dun the GG? The Ombudsman? The UNHCR? Or must they form anarchist cells and overthrow local government merely to escape from their island prison?

  9. Bill 9

    Key’s a despicable shit sack and would have been roundly condemned by public opinion (I think)…right up until the point where a couple of Labour MPs and Metiria opened their mouths.

    I guess some people around who still watch TV can let us know how the media spin it?

    I’m guessing that in the ‘interests of balance’ Hipkins and Robertson (maybe Metiria) will be shown being all offended alongside a single clip of one of Key’s more measured repeated outbursts…and it will make Robertson and Hipkins look bad and, mush more importantly, give oxygen to the notion that everyone on Christmas Island is an absolute bastard deserving to be slung into a hole and forgotten.

    • tracey 9.1

      Easy answer for any of them to any question from a jonolist

      “Now that Mr Key is not a supporter of sex offenders, when will he giive the victim of an attempted rape an apology for letting her offender leave NZ,”

      • Bill 9.1.1

        Labour and the Greens blew it by making it all about them and their sensibilities rather than about the Prime Minister of New Zealand insinuating that those New Zealanders being held on Christmas Island were, in toto, rapists and child molesters.

        • Tracey 9.1.1.1

          By walking out it made the news. Otherwise just another day in Parliament. Anyway if they are rapists and sex offenders more reason for Key to get tough on Turnbill to have them in Australia… surely in red neck land?

        • weka 9.1.1.2

          “Labour and the Greens blew it by making it all about them and their sensibilities rather than about the Prime Minister of New Zealand insinuating that those New Zealanders being held on Christmas Island were, in toto, rapists and child molesters.”

          Maybe, but then if they go down that line it becomes about some detainees/humans are entitled to human rights but not the really bad ones.

          Marama Davidson did try and ask questions about the people there for relatively minor offences.

          • Bill 9.1.1.2.1

            Are you suggesting it’s better to have the people on Christmas Island all slammed as being the worst type of criminal (as far as public sympathy goes) and being pushed away to be ‘by-lines’ to the real story… the sensibilities of some Green and Labour mps?

            • weka 9.1.1.2.1.1

              no, I’m saying that if you go down that track (not all NZers detained there are rapists and murderers) then you are opening the way for two classes of human rights, good people and bad people.

              tbh, I don’t know the range of reasons why people are there. Key’s answers were completely nonsensical (they choose to stay, we don’t want them back, blah blah blah).

              • Bill

                Weka, at the moment they are all being labeled as right real bad fuckers who’d eat your granny and wrap cellotape around your pets before dropping their pants. And a big part of the reason for that is that some Labour and Green mps stood up in parliament and couldn’t distance themselves fast enough due to some stupid line about them being in cahoots with ‘bad’ people.

                As said below by Paul Campbell (11.4) there are human rights violations being perpetrated on NZers by the Australian government. Human rights are something of a universal principle. But hey, maybe that’s just New Zealand for you I guess – fuck the principle if shouty man over there is shouting shouty things that sound a bit unpleasant.

                • “and couldn’t distance themselves fast enough due to some stupid line about them being in cahoots with ‘bad’ people.”

                  I hadn’t really noticed that point before, thanks Bill. It does seem that that is what happened yet I can see it the other way too. Interesting.

                • weka

                  I disagree. The big part of that is what Key did and I reckon he would have done that no matter what, esp once he knew that Carter was on his side.

                  The opposition did a number of things but if they hadn’t done what they did re the accusation, if they had instead ignored Key’s trolebait and focussed on asking questions (this is question time remember, they can’t make speeches or use the time in the way that they want) about the numbers of people who aren’t rapists and murderers then I reckon Key would have just kept on with the rapists and murderers line because he was enabled to by the speaker. That’s why Labour walked.

                  The whole thing is an immense clusterfuck, not least because of the MSM, and a very good example of how fucked up politics in NZ is at the moment. I think quibbling over Labour’s actions today is the least of the problems.

                  Paddy Gower is running the line that psychos are coming. He’s getting that from Key not Labour.

                  • Bill

                    I’m not saying they should have asked about the numbers. I’m saying that Robertson and Hipkins should have stfu about how they were ‘offended’. I could also be saying they should have followed Andrew Little’s lead and let the ‘trolebait’ as you term it slide on past them.

                    But no. It’s about them and their feelings and their desperate urge not to be associated with anything that might be considered ‘unpalatable’.

                    So yes, ‘the psychos are coming’. And if Robertson and Hipkins had stayed on their arses and let the whole thing slide, then the side-line would have been “What the fuck is JK on?” And the main line would have been about the human rights violations taking place on Christmas Island and not all this tosh about NZ parliamentarians.

                    • weka

                      “But no. It’s about them and their feelings and their desperate urge not to be associated with anything that might be considered ‘unpalatable’.”

                      Again, I disagree. If any MPs let the PM get away with that shit he’ll just do it more and more. Maybe it is about their feelings as well, but it’s proper that that shit got stood up to and not ignored. Of the Labour MPs that walked out almost all the women MPs did. You still think this is about feeling unnessarily offended? If it had been me I would have left too, simply on the basis that Key supports rape culture and this was extreme even for him.

                      I also disagree that if they’d said nothing that Gower wouldn’t have run ‘the psychos are coming’ line.

                      TV1’s coverage of the parliament debate makes it clear that not all NZers detained on Christmas Island are criminals.

                      https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/labour-fury-after-john-key-claims-they-are-supporting-rapists-on-christmas-island.html

                      They ran a first piece on the riot, making the point that the Australian minister has been very careful to not refer to the detainees as NZers but as criminals. The reporter is talking about NZers here being worried about their family and loved ones on Christmas Island – “punishing families for historic crimes” is the main point.

                      So I think your idea that the media will present the detainees as rapists and murderers and that that is in large part due to Labour is wrong.

                      https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/rubber-bullets-tear-gas-used-to-quell-christmas-island-rebellion

                    • Bill

                      On the basis of what you’re saying is being reported, I’m a bit surprised.

                    • Bill

                      Watched the clips. Standing by most of my punt at comment 9 on how it would play out.

                      Partial play of Key. (tick)
                      Robertson and Hipkins made to look bad (meh – not so much as I expected)
                      Metiria only maybe covered (didn’t see anything)
                      Basic demonising of Christmas Island detainees (tick)

                    • weka

                      I don’t think Turei was in there at all.

                      “Basic demonising of Christmas Island detainees (tick)”

                      How so?

                    • weka

                      Did we watch the same thing (although I also watched TV3)?

                      “I’m guessing that in the ‘interests of balance’ Hipkins and Robertson (maybe Metiria) will be shown being all offended”

                      Yes.

                      “alongside a single clip of one of Key’s more measured repeated outbursts”

                      No. Key’s worst outbursts and multiple ones not just one.

                      “and it will make Robertson and Hipkins look bad”

                      I guess that’s going to vary from viewer to viewer. They didn’t look bad to me.

                      “and, mush more importantly, give oxygen to the notion that everyone on Christmas Island is an absolute bastard deserving to be slung into a hole and forgotten.”

                      Definitely not. As mentioned, the main thrust of the first piece was that NZ and other families were being punished unecessarily over historical convictions.

                  • tracey

                    “Paddy Gower is running the line that psychos are coming. He’s getting that from Key not Labour.”

                    Yup and Key seems to have known that all these “nasty” folks were there all along… and has still done nothing to get them back into Australia (nurture versus nature 😉 so he is th eone who is happy for these big bad people to come amongst us, not Labour…

    • weka 9.2

      “I guess some people around who still watch TV can let us know how the media spin it?”

      Russell Brown ‏@publicaddress 1 hr1 hour ago

      @patrickgowernz That was a dreadful report tonight. The psychos are coming? Really?

  10. RedBaronCV 10

    Why isn’t the prime minister getting the relevant govt departments to expedite travel docs? These people will have to travel on a NZ passport or docs. What is his concern for the women and children in these centres? Why isn’t he worried about the mixing of what may be a few hard core crims with a bunch of people who have done nothing at all apart from being a refugee or having a minor offence far in the past.

    Or is that too hard for him or for the media to ask the questions.

  11. Daniel Cale 11

    Labour wants the government to stand up for NZ’ers on Christmas Island (Quote from Andrew Little in Parliament today).

    These are people who have committed serious crimes, and who don’t even want to return to NZ.

    As always, Labour backing the losers.

    • mac1 11.2

      From what I heard from a detainee on Christmas Island on National Radio this morning, there has been physical abuse of detainees whilst in detention, poor food, poor treatment.

      I would have hoped that our government would be seeking information and action on these abuses of New Zealand citizens.

    • RedLogix 11.3

      These are people who have committed serious crimes

      Actually many of them are people who – under the new rules that Abbott introduced earlier this year – have accumulated a total of one year of prison time while they were in Australia. This might well include a number of very petty crimes of any sort which may well include minor drug and traffic offenses.

      • Tracey 11.3.1

        Yes but even if we assume Key is right, surely that is reason enough for him to fight Turnbull to have them in Oz. The duplicity is dumbfounding. He is treating his supporters like imbeciles. It is up to them whether he keeps making fools of them.

    • Paul Campbell 11.4

      These are people who have served their sentences, some haven’t even been convicted of anything.

      Having served their sentences, at the moment when they are about to be returned to society they have been thrown on a plane and flown out into the Indian Ocean and put in a concentration camp without trial, isolated with indeterminate sentences.

      These are human rights violations, if we don’t defend the worst of us against this sort of barabarism then who will defend us when it happens to the rest of us? Key’s ugly cop out is exactly the sort of creeping evil that leads to authoritarianism – he obviously doesn’t consider a PM for all the country, for all it’s citizens, he seems willing to throw some of us under the wheels of his bus to keep it on the road.

      • Bill 11.4.1

        I agree Paul. But the kicker is that some Labour and Green couldn’t distance themselves from those same New Zealanders fast enough.

        • Leftie 11.4.1.1

          @Bill

          Completely agree with everything Weka said to you.
          Wish you would put as much effort in attacking John key for saying it in the first place, rather than using it as an opportunity to have another go at Labour.

          • Bill 11.4.1.1.1

            Go back through my comments you idiot and quote back what I’ve said of JK and what he said today. And then grow up.

            • Leftie 11.4.1.1.1.1

              You do not need to be abusive Bill. You have spent more time attacking Labour than attacking the real culprit which is John key and the speaker. Maybe you should follow your own advice.

        • tracey 11.4.1.2

          I now understand where you were coming from. Sorry for not getting it earlier.

          Do you know if it would breach name suppression for someone to ask John Key if he has ever kown or worked with the person currently known as the “prominent new zealander”?

      • Olwyn 11.4.2

        These are human rights violations… Dead right, and that holds whatever these people might have done. It is shocking that a PM can openly endorse such barbarism, and casually chuck people into a “these are people we don’t care about so we don’t care what happens to them” category.

      • Magisterium 11.4.3

        These are people who have served their sentences, some haven’t even been convicted of anything.

        Can you please explain that last bit?

        • Paul Campbell 11.4.3.1

          As I understand it some people are in these detention centres for visa offences, they’ve not been before a court, they have not been convicted

        • Paul Campbell 11.4.3.2

          Here’s a reference for you:

          “Decorated soldier Ko Rutene detained in high security Australian prison despite committing no crime”
          http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11543381

          • Daniel Cale 11.4.3.2.1

            Unfortunately Mr Rutene has been caught up in the new WA law around gang affiliations. Rutene is a member of the Rebels (bike gang), which contravenes his Visa conditions. By all accounts, he’s a good guy, but he’s still breaking the law.

            • McFlock 11.4.3.2.1.1

              which contravenes his Visa conditions

              if it contravened his visa conditions then the minister would not have needed to make the “discretionary decision” to deport him. His visa would have been revoked automatically as part of the normal administrative process.

            • Paul Campbell 11.4.3.2.1.2

              I’m just responding to the person who questioned my assertation that some of the Australian detainees were not convicted of anything – this guy’s not gone before a court, he’s been locked up without trial

              What he’s apparently done is committed some sort of weird indirect crime by association, or maybe a thought crime by liking the wrong people

      • Daniel Cale 11.4.4

        Well that’s one side. Then there’s this:

        http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/73902227/christmas-island-detainees-living-in-fear-as-kiwis-bash-weaker-inmates

        Perhaps there are some innocents caught up in this. But there are some nasty pieces of work as well.

    • Jenny Kirk 11.5

      To Daniel C – From what I’ve heard, a number of these NZers on Christmas Island are not rapists or other nasties, but they’re there because of lesser offences like shop-lifting or traffic offences.

      But the main principle remains : whoever they are, they did their time, and were to be released back into society. lnstead of which, they were immediately detained again and sent off to a remote island in the Indian Island – thousands of miles from their homes and families. This is not the way to treat people.

      • Daniel Cale 11.5.1

        That’s true Jenny, not all are rapists, murderers etc. And not all are NZ’ers by the way. But that’s not the point. The vast majority are on Christmas Island because they have a> committed an offence and b> are not Australian citizens. Personally I think sending people to Christmas Island is loopy, but that’s the law, and based on the fact they most ARE criminals, I have little or no sympathy for them.

        • McFlock 11.5.1.1

          so when it comes to not detaining law-abiding people, “near enough” is good enough?

          You tories are fucked in the head.

    • Foreign Waka 11.6

      Daniel – missing the point by miles. Buy hey, if it helps you sleep….

  12. Paul 12

    Pressure must be applied to remove Carter.

  13. ianmac 13

    Labour is accused of supporting child molesters. Just as well National has not been protecting any of their own for such crimes. Oh no!

    • mac1 13.1

      Parliamentarians can’t use this word, but the hypocrisy is astounding.

    • Nessalt 13.2

      Whats the name of that nice young chap who stayed at annette kings place one fateful evening?

        • Nessalt 13.2.1.1

          Don’t engage in anything that you don’t agree with right paul? great way to educate your self there

      • Tracey 13.2.2

        Mike Sabin?

        • Naki man 13.2.2.1

          No the one who was balls deep in that drunk student.

          • McFlock 13.2.2.1.1

            The student Key said he’d definitely apologise to for letting the (alleged) attacker leave the country, and then Key backed out of it?

            • Nessalt 13.2.2.1.1.1

              No the student who caught gingervitis after being the victim of unwanted sexual advances at at a very senior labour mps house.

              Glass houses are bad news for all those who throw stones

              • One Anonymous Bloke

                So are Northland by-elections. A prominent New Zealander is Cabinet material, eh.

                So, now your shitty little hypocrisy has been exposed for all to see, will you take personal responsibility for it, trash?

              • McFlock

                Labour has one or two small windows that can difficult to see through and might not be windows at all.

                John Key started a stone-throwing war in the Crystal Palace.

          • North 13.2.2.1.2

            Naki-Obscenity-Man. So cool.

          • Psycho Milt 13.2.2.1.3

            No the one who was balls deep in that drunk student.

            I’m confused – you’re saying that’s not Sabin? And anyway, who hasn’t been balls-deep in a drunk student? Life’s pleasures are there to be enjoyed. Did you mean a school pupil, maybe?

          • tracey 13.2.2.1.4

            No such person Naki, but up in Northland… and then there is Ms Billingsly… and then there is the worker with the pony tail… and the statement to the Chilean Leader and…. and… and…. “the boys just need to grow up”…. and

  14. Gangnam Style 14

    Serial fondler & “Soulmate” to a pig fucker. He has no moral leg to stand on (if I can twist a metaphor). Possible dead cat thrown on a table, but more likely playing to his audience, I am glad I am not part of it.

  15. les 15

    grandstanding a feature of team Key….and it works!

  16. Trey 16

    Don’t know Nessalt, wasn’t he a young nat stooge? What was the name of that MP for Northland that Key thought was a top bloke who had cabinet potential?

  17. AmaKiwi 17

    I am delighted Labour is raising hell in the chamber.

    • Tracey 17.1

      Yup without a walkout it wouldnt make the news and Key did sound nasty in the very brief clip followed by Robertson. But why not be pithy in his snippet so they have to show it… asking key when he will apologise to victim of attempted rape Ms Billingsly.

  18. Detrie 18

    Regular walkouts should become the norm when national MPs go off the rails, if only to make the evening news and show NZers how pitiful this government is. The PM’s reaction today also just reconfirms my long-held view we have a sociopath as ‘leader’.
    http://bit.ly/johnkeysociopath
    REDFLAGS 3 + 4 + 6 on this occasion…

  19. NZSage 19

    The video is clear evidence Key is a despicable man not fit to be an MP leave alone PM.

    The speaker’s behaviour is also a disgrace to Parliament and New Zealand democracy, if he had a modicum of integrity he would resign immediately. So clearly he wont.

    The video can also be seen here…for now:

    https://assets.stuff.co.nz/video/production/1447130703337-Backing%20rapists%20v4.mp4

  20. heather 20

    I don’t believe Key ‘lost it’ today in the house, I think it was carefully managed by his friends Crosby and Textor. He is a man that we know can not be trusted. He is out of his depth with the whole question of refugees, asylum seekers and the New Zealanders detained on Christmas Island. He can not make up his mind about any of them, his general stance and history on Human Rights is questionable. He has to get himself out of a hole and he was carefully advised what to do. Sadly there are many who will think he did an excellent job.
    They will be the same people who are against refugees coming to New Zealand and against asylum seekers being processed in the correct manner.
    I feel deeply ashamed of his behaviour, he once again bring New Zealand and their proud record of Human Rights into disrepute.

    • Potato 20.1

      Agree 100% Heather. Planned, orchestrated with an added bonus of rubbing salt into the wounds of the opposition who know there are things that must remain unsaid. I too feel ashamed today.

    • tracey 20.2

      I agree and that is why the Opposition needs people with memories to shoot back at him to show up his lies and hypocrisy…

  21. Thinking Right 21

    I was wondering what all the brohaha about – was it all about deporting shop lifters and lolly snatchers?

    Not according to TV3.

    If you add their numbers up (340) it doesn’t leave that many left who can be considered minor offenders.

    I’m sorry but I think Key is right in this case – not many votes in this from Key.

    Crimes for which New Zealanders are awaiting deportation:
    Child sex offences (including pornography) – 34
    Murder (including manslaughter) – 22
    Rape, sex offences – 16
    Assault (including grievous bodily harm) – 121
    Theft, robbery (including armed), breaking and entering – 83
    Drug offences – 64

    Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/distant-riot-causes-unrest-at-home-2015111017#ixzz3r4XJIOGX

    • weka 21.1

      You don’t think 245 is many NZers being detained for minor or no offences?

    • Puddleglum 21.2

      Hi Thinking Right,

      Of course you’ll be aware that that comes from a list provided from the Australian Government to the New Zealand Government back in May? As Tracy Watkins puts it:

      Key’s office later released a list compiled by the Australian government earlier this year to prove his claim, though whether or not it does is a moot point. It showed that as of May there were 34 child sex offenders, 22 murderers and 16 rapists and sex offenders on Australia’s hit list, along with 121 Kiwis convicted of assault, 83 with theft, robbery and breaking and entering offences to their name and 64 drug offenders. But that’s out of a total 585 New Zealanders who are in the system for visa cancellation. Presumably that leaves 140 or more who are being deported for less serious offences.

    • tracey 21.3

      Then why has he sat on his hands and not tried to make Turnbull keep them in Aussie? Why hasn’t he apologised to the victim of attenpted rate, like he said he would? Why did he think a murdering paedophile escapin gunde rhis watch to Chile was funny? Why does he think it is ok to fondle women’s hair (after being told to stop) cos it pleases him? Why did he remove funding from rape crisis in Christchurch? Why did Wrth have to resign and not be sacked? Why Did Sabin stay Chair of Law and Order Committee and then have to resign and not be sacked? IF as, you say Key is protecting us from sex offenders and murderers?

      You are neither Right, nor Thinking on this one.

    • John Shears 21.4

      @ Thinking Right
      Thanks for the link but the TV3 figures don’t stack up.
      At the top of the article they state 600 NZ’ers and the total of the detailed crimes is 340, at the end, that is a 260 difference.
      TV3 and Gower are not to be trusted IMO.
      and @ Sabine “Dutton said of 199 on Christmas Island, 113 had a criminal history, including 11 armed robbers, five child sex offenders and four rapists.”
      Dotton is the Aust Minister??

      • John Shears 21.4.1

        @ Thinking Right
        Thanks for the link but the TV3 figures don’t stack up.
        At the top of the article they state 600 NZ’ers and the total of the detailed crimes is 340, at the end, that is a 260 difference.
        TV3 and Gower are not to be trusted IMO.
        But wait there’s more.
        “Dutton said of 199 on Christmas Island, 113 had a criminal history, including 11 armed robbers, five child sex offenders and four rapists.” he is the Aust Minister so he should know ???

  22. I suspect that the focus groups have come in and Key – and the media – are now staking out the position.

    Tracy Watkins, for one, says Key is on the “right side of the argument politically“, that his insult in Parliament was an “inevitable response to Davis waylaying him on the way into Parliament” (apparently no such thing as personal responsibility possible in the PM’s behaviour) after Davis had upset the “fine balance” of MPs being all chummy outside of the chamber and that they – I kid you not -“usually manage to leave their political disagreements at the door of Parliament’s debating chamber“.

  23. upnorth 23

    question where are we going to house the 22 murderers and the rapists and pedos…..source tv3

    serious question – not in my neighbourhood? will Andrew little take them into his house?

    who is protecting who?

    • What’s the issue? The majority of the unwilling deportees have been successfully housed in Aussie suburbs, working, paying taxes, etc. They are being kicked out for historic offenses in most cases, after the rules were randomly changed.

    • sabine 23.2

      my friend, these are good questions indeed.
      But it seems you got it mixed up, Mr. Kelvin and the Labour Party are trying to find out what Dear Leader is doing for those that are Kiwis and locked up (after they served time for crimes they have committed, some even quite in teh past) on a currently burning island.
      It is not to have them come back, but to force Australia to keep them, after all these “kiwis” have lived their most their lives, and are only ‘residents’ as they can’t fullfill Australias very stringent rules re citizenship.

      So clearly dear Upnorth, if you are that afraid of murderes and rapists and pedos, you must ask the Prime Minister, Dear Leader, Man of Rugby and Ponytails, what he will do to keep you safe, and how he will force the Dear Leader of OZ to keep these “kiwis” over in OZ. Cause clearly, when asked by Labour, he found no answer. At least I did not hear one.

    • repateet 23.3

      Serious questions:
      To protect us from those who commit crimes should we not lock up everyone convicted?
      Should we not let them have any rights at all after they have been convicted?
      Should we allow torture of any felons who have not been forthcoming with the ‘truth’?
      Should we not ship to ‘detention centres’ on some of our outlying islands everyone convicted of a crime?

      “The quality of mercy is not strained…”

      That our leader knows he can say what he said shows we are all stained.

    • question where are we going to house the 22 murderers and the rapists and pedos…

      Well, this is just off the top of my head, but I expect they’ll be housed in the same place we house the murderers, rapists etc that live here already – in houses. Society doesn’t guarantee you’ll never live near a convicted criminal.

      Apart from which, as Sabine points out, Labour’s the party doing something to try and keep these guys from coming back to NZ – National isn’t willing to even raise it with Australia in a serious way. You should instead be asking whether Key’s willing to house them at his place…

      • tracey 23.4.1

        And then there are the people who live near a prominent New ZEalander, and probably have children…

  24. sabine 24

    funny someone is not telling quite the truth, there is Spokes Person for Dear Leader on the national channel NR. 3 stating that :

    Crimes for which New Zealanders are awaiting deportation:
    Child sex offences (including pornography) – 34
    Murder (including manslaughter) – 22
    Rape, sex offences – 16
    Assault (including grievous bodily harm) – 121
    Theft, robbery (including armed), breaking and entering – 83
    Drug offences – 64

    and the Minister of Immigration for OZ who states this

    http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/10/christmas-island-detention-centre-under-control-after-riot-police-move-in

    “Dutton said of 199 on Christmas Island, 113 had a criminal history, including 11 armed robbers, five child sex offenders and four rapists.”

    So, are these five child sex offenders and four rapists all kiwis? Are only Kiwis on the island? and who are the other 86 poor sods that have no criminal history and are also on this hellhole?

    So who is gonna eat crow, Dear Leader of NZ, or Dear Leader of OZ, or Patrick Gower – stenographer of the National Channel Nr. 3

    • weka 24.1

      nice one sabine, at last a reliable source.

    • tracey 24.2

      FACTS? You wanna talka bout FACTS?????

      Labour are fighting for these people to stay in Australia, while Key is fighting for….?

      I wonder if the deal with Aussie is for them to be kept on Christmas Island until Ms Adams has the legislation ready to deal with the 10% of ‘residents” seen as “bad uns”

  25. Brian 25

    Key is a disgrace.

  26. Pat 26

    I wonder if he even realises the bizarre hypocrisy of his performance today?…

  27. sabine 27

    I do hope that kelvin Davis and the labour party (and the Green Party) will continue to work this issue. We are still a nation of laws, and no country should be allowed to lock up people without access to lawyers, without access to help from the consulate of the country of origin, and support and visitation from family and friends, effectively sending them into isolation.

    Fact is that Christmas Island is so far from anywhere and everywhere, that to get there as a lawyer, or staff from the consulate or family and friends is prohibitive.

    If the dear Leader of OZ wants to kick out people that have committed crimes in OZ, than he should put them on the next plane out of the country, destination the country of origin of these people, not fucking Christmas island.
    And that is what Labour and Kelvin Davis have been saying now for a while.

    So the next question that Kelvin Davis and the Labour Party should be asking, are we citizens of NZ happy for OZ and or any other nation to just dump people on tiny islands somewhere without access to family, friends, lawyers and representatives, and why is Dear Leader happy to support Dear Leader of OZ instead of people that are by birth New Zealanders.

    This meme of supporting the rapists and the child abusers sounds like something that Bush the younger said in the lead up to the Iraq war, sequel 2, If you are not with us, than you are against us. It deserves nothing more then , Yeah,right, Tui.
    So Labour and the Greens, go back to work tomorrow, and if he tries it again, laugh him out of the room. You did well over the weekend and Dear Leader is not liking it.

  28. Whateva Next 28

    Well Andrew littles tue was a bit wonky so they are quits now

  29. Mike the Savage One 29

    This was ‘get some guts’ number two by Key. He is increasingly losing his temper, and shows his ugly and hate filled face. It was very well visible on the Parliament TV broadcast. Keep it up, Andrew and others in Labour, same as now Marama firing for the Greens, we will get him there, to expose Key, for what he really is.

    Good work by Labour in the House, and good on for those that walked out. The Speaker was trembling himself, as he should, as he again showed true bias.

    And one viewer shouted at Bill English from the balcony, when he talked his usual BS about all the “good” things they do for those needing “extra support” and so (“wrap around BS”).

    We are heading for interesting times, I reckon.

  30. Smilin 30

    Carter is so biased and down right ignorant that he cannot keep what is said in the house on track and continually allows the govt bs leverage on most issues to stifle intelligent constructive debate – give an inch take a mile
    Its all about allowing Key and his scant views and replies to be upmost in the house,after all he is president in his mind which is enough to make any of what goes on in the house next to a dictatorship
    Also his contrived outbursts if in public would be along the lines of what we see on Police ten 7 which would find him arrested

  31. Mike Bond 31

    m.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id…
    The above link is where Davis marched against sexual offenders. He now wants to bat for them???? So are Labour for sex offenders or are they against them?

    • North 31.1

      “Bond……Mike Bond. Cheapie.”

    • northshoredoc 31.2

      @Mike Bond

      Can you not understand that you can be against sexual offending and still demand fair and reasonable treatment for those convicted of sex offences ?

      Not sure why this is such a hard concept for some to grasp ?

      • Mike Bond 31.2.1

        One question for you northshoredoc. Will you be happy having one of these paedophiles/rapist/murderer living next to you?

        I agree with human rights and all that, but Davis was in Australia, Little has said he has spoken to the Aussies, what did they get changed? Do they seriously think anyone from New Zealand can get the Aussies to change their law to suit our ex pat criminals? Grow up or grow a pair!

        • tracey 31.2.1.1

          I wonder who is currently living next to the Prominent New Zealander?

          If you are not a paedophile, rapist or muderer Mike, how would you feel if someone told everyone in NZ you were because everyone on Chrismas Island is, and you arrive in NZ from Christmas Island?

          The smugness of those who think bad stuff only happens to others is palpable

          • Mike Bond 31.2.1.1.1

            Sorry Tracey, no one said everyone on Christmas Island are paedophiles, rapists or murderers. From figures given, it would seem a third are, but the point is that no one in New Zealand has the power to change a law in Australia. Davis was there and achieved nothing! Labour are just showing they do not care about the average Kiwi and consistently support the criminals and campaign for better rights for them. Vote Labour and we turn the Rits into a detention centre. Room service and all!!!!!

            • Leftie 31.2.1.1.1.1

              @Mike Bond

              “no one said everyone on Christmas Island are paedophiles, rapists or murderers. ”

              John key did in parliament.

          • Mike Bond 31.2.1.1.2

            “bad stuff only happens to others” @ tracey. I suppose these criminals had guns against their heads and were forced to rape, murder or mess with kids. I suppose they were forced to deal in drugs etc. They did the crime and knew there would be consequences! Lucky for them in New Zealand we have a Labour party that is fighting full force for their rights! Rights they gave up when they committed the crime, but who cares!

            • One Anonymous Bloke 31.2.1.1.2.1

              In fact, human rights are universal, and cannot be “given up”.

              Childish vengeance fantasies such as yours, when translated into penal policy, have the effect of increasing recidivism and therefore, the crime rate.

              Why do you want more crime? What’s wrong with you?

            • Psycho Milt 31.2.1.1.2.2

              They did the crime and knew there would be consequences!

              They knew that the consequences would include indefinite detention without trial on a remote island? How did they know that?

              Lucky for them in New Zealand we have a Labour party that is fighting full force for their rights!

              It’s lucky for all of us, not just them, because National has made it clear it has no problem with Australia detaining NZers at its pleasure, whether they’ve committed crimes at some point in their lives or not.

              Rights they gave up when they committed the crime…

              The ability to give up your rights is something that exists only in your imagination. Humans who’ve committed crimes have exactly the same human rights that you do – if you’re happy for those rights to be stripped from one group of humans, don’t pretend you’re a believer in human rights and don’t complain when someone decides to strip you of yours.

            • tracey 31.2.1.1.2.3

              The thing is Mike, it’s people like you I really don’t want to live next door to.

        • tracey 31.2.1.2

          “I agree with human rights and all that,”

          Actually no you don’t. It is little wonder you struggle to understand this situation because you don’t even understand your own words posted here.

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    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
    11 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
    11 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
    13 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
    14 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
    16 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day 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
    2 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
    3 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    5 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
    5 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
    4 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
    9 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
    11 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
    12 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
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