Sometimes in our quest for what is perfect we forget what has been achieved

Written By: - Date published: 11:40 am, October 3rd, 2022 - 36 comments
Categories: labour, political parties, Unions, workers' rights - Tags:

I did a quick summary of worker’s rights enacted under Labour since 2017, with a help from the Greens and reluctant support (and opposition) from NZ First, who held up a lot of these:

  • 10 days sick leave (increased by 5 days)
  • 26 weeks paid parental leave
  • Restored meal and rest breaks
  • Strengthened collective bargaining
  • Extended protections for vulnerable workers to include security
  • Workers in “triangular” relationships can challenge both bosses.
  • Limited 90 day trials to small workplaces
  • Matariki holiday
  • Bereavement leave now includes miscarriage (Greens)
  • Domestic violence leave (Greens)
  • Screen workers restored rights to collectively bargain
  • Minimum wage increased from $15.75 to $21.20 per hour since 2018
  • Living Wage applies to contract workers in government departments
  • Equal Pay Amendment Act passed
  • Historic pay equity settlements – many more underway.
  • Fair Pay Agreements making their way through parliament.

Labour sets the agenda for NZ, (and yes it could be more perfect with criticism from our own because we want them to go further, faster), but ignore the opposition who inevitably return to their own pathetic programme of tax cuts, 90 day trials, attacking unions etc.

We need to take stock and while of course there is more to do, and I for one will continue to push Labour on this, the election of a National/ACT government could see us go backwards pretty quickly.

36 comments on “Sometimes in our quest for what is perfect we forget what has been achieved ”

  1. weka 1

    Nice one Darien!

  2. Stuart Munro 2

    The core Labour issue remains economic justice.

    No laundry list of small positives suffices to reset the injustices Labour brought in with Rogergnomics. The recent rises in cost of living have already eroded most of the above to the point of meaninglessness.

    Housing remains out of reach of the working poor, we still have mass low-wage immigration in spite of some promising but now broken promises around the median wage.

    Things are a little better than they would have been under National – but Savage would not speak to any of you.

    The people's flag is bloody red, as Wattie's sauce on cheap white bread.

    • lprent 2.1

      The problem is that Rogernomics was effectively ended by Labour in 1988 when Roger Douglas was dumped as Finance Minister – roughly 32 years ago.

      There was a lot of in-fighting about it inside Labour in the 1990s, but it certainly wasn't resumed in the Labour-led government that came to power in 1999 – ie 23 years ago.

      When I'm looking at your points you choose to raise about Rogernomics, I simply suspect you don't know what you're talking about. Because you do seem to be pulling everything out of your arse for your specific points.

      For instance, what in the hell do housing prices have to do with it? The 1984-1990 government didn't do much change in housing policy. If anything, it moved closer to the principles Savage postulated and for much the same reasons. There had been a tight finance system before 1984, and the numbers of state houses had been diminished by sales.

      The changes to housing policy were mainly done by the National governments in the announcements of the the 1991 budget (for instance see this thesis from 1999).

      I don't have any issues looking at the inequities created with the 1984-1990 government, however I think that attributing National party housing policies as being their fault is just you being an idiot myth-maker and a damn fool.

      • Stuart Munro 2.1.1

        Those who do not own their own dwelling are ruthlessly impoverished by those that possess a surplus. Labour's responsibility to the working people is to prevent such systematic wrongs developing.

        Working people generally entrust matters of policy to those that claim expertise. The kindest interpretation of policy over the period concerned is that those involved did not know what they were doing.

        The truth is more that those that knew, did not care.

        (your link seems to be down, btw)

        • lprent 2.1.1.1

          Fixed the link.

          Labour’s responsibility to the working people is to prevent such systematic wrongs developing.

          A somewhat disingenuous answer.

          In effect, what you appear to be arguing (based on housing) is that Labour is responsible for National/Act's policies and for everyone who voted for a National/Act government.

          Surely you can see how damn stupid that idea is.

          Working people generally entrust matters of policy to those that claim expertise.

          Of course. That is the basis of a representative democratic system. That hardly divorces you or any other voter from the responsibility of whom they vote for and implicitly the bundle of policies that they vote for.

          However have you considered that the majority of voters have also been known to vote for governments other than a Labour led one.

          Now you're sounding like you'd wish for democracy to be be dumped in favour of a technocratic dictatorship. Basically you appear to be arguing in support for the effective basis for all autocratic governments from fascism, national socialism, and the party states like the USSR or the CCP. ie That the party knows all and will fix things so that the voters will be happy (or else there is a alternative at gulag).

          Working people have been known to vote for National/Act. The number of people who vote for a National-led government, who are working and therefore repeatably voted for their slant of 18 years of housing policies is probably well over 80%.

          Much the same as the percentage of working people who vote for Labour-led governments and who have voted for a different slant on housing policies.

      • Descendant Of Smith 2.1.2

        Depends I guess as to whether you see lowering taxes for high earners and regressively taxing workers through GST plus user pays plus adding profit and fake competition to electricity markets – mainly paid for by the working class as a means of increasing the wealth of the well off and allowing them to build up capital and buy houses competing against each other to drive up house prices as part of housing policy.

        Making the rich richer and the working class poorer can only lead to capital ownership of housing by the well off. It is what happened the world over post industrial revolution.

        That's without all the other direct incentives such as claiming interest, offsetting against other income, removing stamp duty. Certainly no intention to raise all boats on the incoming tide.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 2.1.2.1

          On the plus side, I've just heard an 'expert' (Dr Michael Rehm), being interviewed on RNZ's 'The Panel', suggest that NZ house prices/values could fall by up to 70%, although I’ve probably misinterpreted.

          https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/thepanel/audio/2018861138/the-panel-with-dr-claire-robinson-and-mark-knoff-thomas [@1:50 minutes]

          Since the only (humble) home I've owned was built in the 50's, and I''ve lived there over half my life, it really doesn't matter (to me) if its value plummets. I do feel for anyone who has bought their home in the last 4 years or so, particularly young families. Still, ladders and snakes.

          NZ housing: snakes and ladders [27 August 2018]
          New Zealand and Australia have much in common, including high property prices.

          Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

        • lprent 2.1.2.2

          I wasn't really arguing any of that.

          I was pointing out (with a sharp stick) that the 3rd Labour government wasn't responsible for changing the housing policy that Stuart was pointing to.

          The inequities probably helped to bubble the high-end property values.

          However a more direct cause for most housing prices rises can be easily found in the long-term simply not building sufficient residential housing since the 1980s in NZin line with the increase in population.

          That in turn pushes the massive increase in the input prices of building materials which increases the cost of building. Tracking that in NZ is interesting because it is classic demonstration about how a boom-bust cycle forces manufacturer consolidation and monopolistic pricing. It is also a clear case of market failure in a area of infrastructure (because that is what housing is to an economy) .

          What National failed and still fails to understand is that the market is a failure at maintaining a viable building industry and at providing the mix of housing that NZ needs.

          State housing for a large chunk of the last 90 years provided the sustainable backbone of the local building industry. It provided a large customer who pushed down building costs, allowed some certainty for the builders and smaller manufacturers, and kept the price of overall housing down.

          • Descendant Of Smith 2.1.2.2.1

            In the same way that government work with local plumbers, electricians, etc created consistent cash flow which allowed local firms in small towns to thrive and also created circulation of money.

            The lowest cost contracting model exacerbated by Steven Joyce's centralised contracting everything under the sun model means much of that work went to outside firms rather than local. Some towns now have no plumbers, carpet layers etc and have to pay a fortune to get things done – particularly if it is more than a one day job with travel and accommodation costs. It got so bad that MOE were having trouble getting locals to repair buildings built by out of town firms. The locals just told them to get the wankers from Auckland who built it to come and fix it.

            It always surprised me that local businessmen were so vocal in their support of mainly the national governments who did this. Once locals stopped getting the work they soon realised the direct/indirect impact – many are no longer around. That coupled with the withdrawl of services to call centres, etc cost many in the private sector their livelihoods.

            Ironically technology means many jobs can be done from anywhere and there is great potential to have people working from rural areas and small towns again but this is getting stifled across both private and public sectors by an inability of management (especially the management as a profession type managers who just go from one job to another to adjust and change.

            NZ productivity could be so much higher with just an acceptance that you don't need centralised groups of people sitting in Auckland or Wellington or Christchurch.

    • How has 5 sick days turned to 10 now meaningless? Plus the other permanent gains.

      Lack of facts Stuart, and too much hyperbole.

      Don't forget "The Contracts Act". That really robbed workers of all of the above protections and literally lowered wages and contract payments in a rush to the lowest bid!! That was National and Bill Birch. Look up your history.

      • Stuart Munro 2.2.1

        Sick days don't house the victims of neoliberalism.

        Where is the rising tide that was going to lift all boats? The only one in the offing seems to be the one that will inundate low-lying land areas.

        Economic justice remains the core issue upon which Labour will judged by those that used to be their natural supporters.

        • Stuart, that is your invention. Nowhere were promises made to "Lift all boats"

          The understanding was they would (in spite of setbacks) work towards improving lives. That doesn't mean all the “anti bods will lie down and accept changes" No way, they gathered their big money (Act) and put their war chest to adding to the dis information battle. As they ever have. If you think there is no difference in direction just read Act Policy. It is alarming, as National don't seem to have much…so…. Are they Act in drag?
          That would be a huge change for the worse.

          • Stuart Munro 2.2.1.1.1

            The premise underwriting Rogergnomics was some kind of mystical market fairies producing more growth that somehow relieved the Left of responsibility for removing the protections that had made NZ workers reasonably well off by global standards – the rising tide is merely a concise rendering of those fictions.

            Absent those fictions, and an ostensible good faith belief in them, Roger's colleagues, and those that failed to run them out of the party, are simple sell-outs.

            The prevailing pattern of the current party – pretty Blair or Starmerite, suggests that they still largely embrace these damaging and ineffectual economic fictions. Would that it were not so.

            But Blair-or-Starmerites don’t deserve either respect or support.

          • Stuart Munro 2.2.1.1.2

            National don't seem to have much…so…. Are they Act in drag?

            I don't think so. National (once upon a time, in decades far far away) actually had a reasonably coherent set of beliefs or values, which they had not entirely sold out to foreign banks and dodgy ethnic funders. The wholesale wrecking of critical public services and infrastructure we associate with contemporary National would have been resisted, and the likes of Marilyn Waring demonstrated an intellectual and moral heft now entirely absent from the party.

            ACT seems to be the current vehicle of the logrolling far right conspiracy – getting a lot more funding and media life support than it had as the member for the rotten borough of Epsom. Though it is clearly more coherent than National, fascism and Trumpism are on the outer with our major political influencer nations at present, and their policies (courtesy of a bunch of windfall MPs with no more heft than Sharma) are likely to annoy median voters. Labour can defeat them in detail if they have the opportunity to address them individually.

      • 1991 Employment Contracts Act managed to divide and conquer our workforce.

        Market driven, the introduced 'business model' is not suited to our public health system. Our hospitals became referred to as silo's, our charge nurses became Init Managers and wore a corporate uniform, our documentation included logging data as units of output of staff ratio per patient, who were to be called a consumer of health service rather than a patient. Health was to be run as a business. PM Bulger, MP English MP Shipley introduced the part payment scheme for hospital services in 1993. Cash registers were placed in ED and wards, in an attempt to get people requiring care to part pay, ie hospital in-patient could expect a bill for $500. There was an outcry and backlash. Within National had to U-turn this attempt to privatise patient care. However public hospital services like Laundry, kitchen/food cleaners and maintenance became sub contracted.(essentially privatised) Extra layers of administrators were employed and paid huge salaries.Nurses and allied staff were not replaced, it took nurses union years to get back to back a national collective for members. Wages and conditions for qualified staff has fallen behind. That 1991Emplyments Contact Act was Nationals doings, determined to break the unions with individual contracts and job security gone with introduction of casual contracts. Neo-liberal models are not good for social welfare nor Primary Health initiatives suited to promote health..

      • Market driven, the introduced 'business model' is not suited to our public health system. Our hospitals became referred to as silo's, our charge nurses became Init Managers and wore a corporate uniform, our documentation included logging data as units of output of staff ratio per patient, who were to be called a consumer of health service rather than a patient. Health was to be run as a business. PM Bulger, MP English MP Shipley introduced the part payment scheme for hospital services in 1993. Cash registers were placed in ED and wards, in an attempt to get people requiring care to part pay, ie hospital in-patient could expect a bill for $500. There was an outcry and backlash. Within National had to U-turn this attempt to privatise patient care. However public hospital services like Laundry, kitchen/food cleaners and maintenance became sub contracted.(essentially privatised) Extra layers of administrators were employed and paid huge salaries.Nurses and allied staff were not replaced, it took nurses union years to get back to back a national collective for members. Wages and conditions for qualified staff has fallen behind. That 1991Emplyments Contact Act was Nationals doings, determined to break the unions with individual contracts and job security gone with introduction of casual contracts. Neo-liberal models are not good for social welfare nor Primary Health initiatives suited to promote health.. 1991 Employment Contracts Act managed to divide and conquer our workforce.

    • Have to agree with you … neo-liberalism was started by Roger Douglas and Co who essentially stripped the heartland of NZ and gifted it to the bankers in the form of debt. It was continued by Shipley and Co, because it was the brave new market-led economy … and now we have a bunch of socialists who think private capital is theirs to control … until it runs out. But you are right I personally also will never forgive Rogernomics … it cost me my career. The people in the photo so happy about Labour remind me of Stalin's useful idiots. They need to understand how they are perceived by Ardern, Hipkins, Robertson and Co, as just useful idiots to be used on their march towards socialist globalism.

  3. observer 3

    Anyone who suggests "they're all pretty much the same" should read what is coming …

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/07/david-seymour-s-plan-for-first-100-days-in-national-act-coalition.html

    That's not John Key throwing a bone to Rodney Hide, that's ACT pushing the agenda and Luxon pretending to "reluctantly" accept it.

    • Ad 3.1

      I get the point we could be grateful. Especially for sick leave, and Matariki.

      But on wages we are treading water against inflation.

      I'm not aware of a successful MECA, happy to be corrected.

      Union membership outside core public service is even weaker than Arderns 2017.

      Low-end income increases without low-end tax reform is a cruel joke.

      Good on the fighters like Darien who get us there. But the point of government is to leave the place better than you started.

      • Mac1 3.1.1

        "But on wages we are treading water against inflation." The rise in the minimum wage since 2017 is 34%; the cumulative rise in inflation is 20.83%.

        • Ad 3.1.1.1

          So far. Inflation continues to accelerate.

          Don't forget the extra 1.5% we're going to get charged every payday for this ACC unemployment scheme.

          • Mac1 3.1.1.1.1

            Yes, the rate has jumped. I put the figures into the debate because the original post from Darien Fenton was from 2017 onwards.

            I'd say that the government is aware of the inflation jump and will factor that into minimum wage assessments as I understand they are supposed.

            There is a report from the Salvation Army that will spark some debate and reaction on the state of society's wealth and distribution.

            My home area is not well off and has been so for the 25 years that I have monitored figures on the low wage economy.

            The achievements and ongoing issues both around housing, wages, poor upward mobility in job promotion, RSE worker treatment, seasonal employment are still there. This area has lower unemployment, below 3%, than the national but still low average of about 3.2%. Yet wages etc still are low.

            Let's honour the work and improvement that has been made and then work for more.

        • yes Thanks Mac1, good to know.

  4. Ad, Don't forget how much more secure workers will feel. smiley Very cheap insurance.
    Further if ACT/ Nat Policy to reverse all this and replace it with 90 day trials plus a two dollar tax cut Wow!!! People will be worse off.

  5. Darien Fenton 5

    As I said ; always more to do. That's why some of us keep on organising. And on the Social Insurance : please ; I tried to introduce a simple redundancy entitlements bill when I was an MP and Sue Moroney did so again. Both times National / Act voted it down. I can tell you what was proposed was minimal but you would have thought the world had frigging ended in proposing it. The Social Insurance proposal includes the things in my bill such as 4 weeks notice and 4 weeks pay paid for by the employer etc. but is a hell of a lot better for people who are laid off through no fault of their own and gives protection far beyond what the few workers who have redundancy entitlements in their collective agreements have.

    • weka 5.1

      it's hard not to see it as an intentional policy to save people from falling into the underclass (good), without doing anything substantial about the underclass and why it exists (terrible). It will create two welfare systems, one for the better off, and one for the poor bastards.

  6. Anker 6

    I am afraid that don’t count for much in my book

    i really think people are or feel no better off than they were.

    I would say Labour have tinkered around the edges and they have in many areas made things worse eg housing. Credit Susie recently reported NZders had seen the biggest increase in wealth in the world last year. So govt policies have made the wealthy much wealthier.

    they have grown govt bureaucracy and their wages significantly while doing f all for beneficiaries.

    labours identity politics have made NZ a far more decisive place.

    top released their tax policy on the weekend . It’s the sort of policy which I believe will re balance things nicely. It’s bold and I will be voting for it

    • roy cartland 6.1

      Yes, I never understood why Labour was so afraid to promise tax cuts all over the place, conveniently leaving out (or at least hardly mentioning) the tax rises on the very wealthy. How many of us really care what the extreme richies think, who would not vote Labour anyway?

      Both Gordon Campbell and NRT have interesting takes on tax today.

      • observer 6.1.1

        I don't know where you got your news, but Labour raising the top tax rate was all over where I get mine. They didn't leave it out or hardly mention it.

        I could give a hundred links or you could just Google in 5 seconds.

    • observer 6.2

      I really think people are or feel no better off than they were.

      That may well be true. There's been some things happening in the world. I'd like to hear about all the countries where people do feel better off. Suggestions?

      while doing f all for beneficiaries.

      It's fine to say "should have done more". It's simply false to say "done nothing".

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/budget-2021/442987/budget-2021-benefits-to-increase-by-up-to-55-a-week

      Of course you can vote for whoever you want, but I'd only ask one thing. If the Right get in next year and the inevitable happens, please don't say you didn't know and couldn't stop it. We all know.

      • Anne 6.2.1

        If and when the Right get in – and that includes the local body elections – then when reality hits, those who voted for them will suffer a sudden and devastating attack of memory loss that paralyses their ability to accept it was actually their own fault.

    • Labour have not put their Policy out for the 3rd term yet, and a vote for Top currently is a vote for the Right. The old “Bird in the hand or the mythical one in the Bush” A.. mazing!!!

    • Drowsy M. Kram 6.4

      i really think people are or feel no better off than they were.

      Some people expecting to be better off than they were don't understand the situation.

      The certainty of ever-growing living standards we grew up with under Queen Elizabeth is at an end [13 Sept 2022]

      The end of certainty
      How long did that “long 20th century” last? DeLong thinks it ended in 2010, making it a long century of 140 years. Since the global financial crisis, we have been unable to return economic growth to anything like the pace of those 140 glorious years.

      Today, DeLong says material wealth remains criminally” unevenly distributed. And even for those who have enough, it doesn’t seem to make us happy – at least “not in a world where politicians and others prosper mightily from finding new ways to make and keep people unhappy”.

      DeLong sees “large system-destabilizing waves of political and cultural anger from masses of citizens, all upset in different ways at the failure of the system of the twentieth century to work for them as they thought that it should”.

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    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    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
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    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 ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 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
    11 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
    12 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
    13 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
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