Starve the beast

Written By: - Date published: 12:39 pm, December 14th, 2010 - 50 comments
Categories: public services, tax - Tags: ,

Let’s face it. A government doesn’t accidentally spend $15 billion more than its revenue while cutting billions in taxes. The unsustainably high deficit is intentional policy, not happenstance.

In good times and bad, National’s answer is always to cut taxes:

Economic good times and record surpluses? ‘Hardworking Kiwis are being overtaxed by that greedy Michael Cullen’

Recession and record deficits? ‘We need tax cuts to boost the economy’

It doesn’t seem to make sense that your answer to two diametrically opposite situations would be the same. Unless, of course, your objectives aren’t those stated.

The rightwing wealthy elite hates public services. They believe that if you aren’t worthy enough, as measured by the market, to afford something you shouldn’t get it. And they especially hate paying the taxes to buy these public services. Being narrow-minded they can’t see that they benefit from living in a society where the less well-off get education and healthcare and a minimal income safety net.

The problem, rightwingers discovered, as they fought the creation of the welfare state in the middle of last century, is that poor people get to vote too. And they love public services. The social wage is as valuable, if not more valuable, than the market wage for many people. For the poor, public services provide some relief from the massive inequities created by the market.

But, by and large, the poor pay taxes too. And few people enjoy it. So, the Right hit on a strategy. Rather than decrying public services as inherently wrong as they had, they focused on persuading people that, rain or shine, they need tax cuts. It turns out that it’s quite easy to convince people that they should have more money in their pockets, if you don’t make them aware of the consequences. Polls regularly show big support for tax cuts but big opposition to the statement ‘would you support public service cuts to pay for tax cuts’.

But the Right knows there’s no such thing as a free lunch. The objective of the tax cut mantra is to create huge deficits that then need to be ‘fixed’ with spending cuts. This is what American conservatives call ‘starve the beast’.

Grover Norquist put it colourfully when he said “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”

This is what is happening all over the world. During the boom years, governments everywhere cut taxes, even Left ones like Labour, who at least cut them to the bottom end more. It seemed like they could afford to, with the massive surpluses they would otherwise have been running (except the UK and US, which ran deficits even in the boom years). Along came the great recession and more tax cuts, this time to stimulate the economy – even though the evidence is that greater government spending is more stimulatory.

Now, the deficits are out of control here and abroad. Does anyone say ‘hey, lets just return tax levels to where they were when we didn’t have a structural deficit?’ No. Because the Right has been very very successful, with the centre-Left’s meek acquiescence, in making raising taxes nearly impossible. Instead, the ‘only solution’ is austerity cuts to public services.

There’s no crisis without opportunity, and this crisis is playing perfectly into the right’s hands. We’ll be told that ‘extravagant’ public services are no longer affordable and health and education will get big cuts. We’ve already been softened up for welfare cuts. And asset sales will also become ‘necessary’ to pay off our debts.

We’ve been here before – 20 years ago. Starve the beast worked then, and it’s working now.

50 comments on “Starve the beast ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. mickysavage 1
    14 December 2010 at 1:19 pm

    Did I see Pansy’s arm firmly up her back so that her resignation would drown out what economically is much more significant news?

    And if my accountant drove the business into deficits and had no plan to fix the problem I would get a new accountant.

    • Colonial Viper 1.1
      14 December 2010 at 1:22 pm

      Are you looking at Bill English when you say that.

      • Clarke 1.1.1
        15 December 2010 at 8:16 am

        Probably not – the difference between Bill English and an accountant is that the accountant is qualified to do their job. Bill? Not so much.

  2. Colonial Viper 2
    14 December 2010 at 1:21 pm

    Great synopsis. And what are the Left going to do to make the public realise that we need to create an equitable productive society capable of raising incomes for the many, and not just cutting taxes for the few.

    As for raising tax revenues: CGT, estate tax and much more progressive PAYE please (where new upper bands are set at 5x, 10x and 40x the median wage, but the first few thousand earned a year are taxed at 0%). Oh and return GST back to 10%, the regressive tax that it is.

  3. big bruv 3
    14 December 2010 at 1:26 pm

    Yep…big spending cuts.

    An immediate end to the interest free student loan bribe.
    An immediate end to the working for families bribe.
    An immediate end to long term dole bludgers receiving the benefit
    An immediate end to the DPB.
    Get rid of 75% of government departments / ministries, sack all of the public servants who work in those departments / ministries and save the tax payer a fortune.

    That is only the start……Labour created the problem by letting a history teacher play with the countries finances during an economic boom (and led us into recession well before anybody else in the world).

    I just hope that Key and the Nat’s are brave enough to make the hard choices, they have the support of the public, they have plenty of political capital it is time they started spending some of it.

    The reality is that it will not matter how tough it is, the Nat’s will be be back in power after the next election.

    • marsman 3.2
      14 December 2010 at 1:38 pm

      From ZERO Public Debt to $15BILLION Public Debt. Bill English has done it again, he’s inept and he’s mismanaging the economy !

    • Lanthanide 3.3
      14 December 2010 at 2:27 pm

      Expect an immediate and sustained uptick in the number of Kiwis going over to Oz.

    • Zaphod Beeblebrox 3.4
      14 December 2010 at 2:28 pm

      If its low debt you want you may have to start voting Labour.

    • Irascible 3.5
      14 December 2010 at 3:11 pm

      NZ let a money speculator / gambler combined with a treasury minion who holds to a discredited economic theory control the economy and it all turned to crap with a record budget blow out and a promised cycleway as the only means of rescue.
      The hard choice for Key & company is to admit their failures and follow Pansy into botanical oblivion.

    • NickS 3.6
      14 December 2010 at 3:23 pm

      An immediate end to the DPB.

      Followed by a rise in government spending on policing, courts and prison as those utterly without (and with the will to do so) take from those with. But hey, it’s not like the DPB is relatively cheap compared to the costs of imprisoning people in conditions that meet NZ law, combined with all the other costs of crime, and unemployment obviously doesn’t exist either.

      And have you made that donation yet bb?

    • bbfloyd 3.7
      14 December 2010 at 5:49 pm

      you really are boring old fart big bruv.. you obviously lost your cognitive abilities along with your eyesight long ago… now you’re reduced to not much more than telling stories about when you were in the war…. the boer war.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.8
      14 December 2010 at 6:50 pm

      This is what your “solutions” will bring about BB. Total devastation.

  4. Policy Parrot 4
    14 December 2010 at 2:03 pm

    The question is, will there be another 1990-style “crisis” which forces National to sell off state assets to balance the books?

    Then the wealthy win twice – lower taxes and access to bargain basement SOEs. Of course, it will be promoted as Mum and Dad investors, perhaps the Hotchins for example?

    • Colonial Viper 4.1
      14 December 2010 at 2:05 pm

      LAB need to get ahead of this curve.

      • big bruv 4.1.1
        14 December 2010 at 2:15 pm

        And how would they do that Viper?

        Borrow even more?
        Hand out more tax dollars earned by working people to bludgers?
        Impose crippling tax’s on anybody who earns more than the average wage?
        Bring back compulsory unionism?

        • Lanthanide 4.1.1.1
          14 December 2010 at 2:29 pm

          Support people into jobs, thereby raising the tax take and lowering the welfare expense.

        • Colonial Viper 4.1.1.2
          14 December 2010 at 2:39 pm

          bug bruv, whether you like it or not, people fall on hard times and need support. We are a society which should not tolerate poverty when we have huge capital resources at our disposal. $1.7B for SCF, $9.1B for rich tax payers over 4 years, etc. People can only succeed if they have the resources at their disposal to pick themselves up and dust themselves off. That part of it is their responsibility but society should understand that most people do better with support and encouragement.

          Cunliffe is clear on where our economy needs to make society both richer and fairer with those riches. A more diversified, higher value add economic base.

          Taxes should also go up on those who earn more than 5x, 10x and ~50x the NZ median income. That’s at approx $130K p.a., $260K p.a. and $1.3M p.a.

          Hard to cripple them with taxes mate, don’t fear there will still be plenty of bubbly and ham in the pantry over Christmas.

          • big bruv 4.1.1.2.1
            14 December 2010 at 2:57 pm

            Viper

            People do fall on hard times, on that we agree, however those same people should have made provision to care for themselves when those hard times come along.
            It is simply not acceptable for them to expect their fellow Kiwis to bail them out time after time.
            You are also right when you say we should not tolerate poverty, we should not tolerate laziness or those who do not make the best of the tax payer funded education they receive.

            You say that taxes should go up at 5x 10x and 50x, how much should those taxes go up by Viper?

            History does not support what you say or the constant stream of lies coming from Cunliffe, Labour would once again hammer the middle class and offer huge bribes to the idle and the lazy.

            • Colonial Viper 4.1.1.2.1.1
              14 December 2010 at 3:06 pm

              however those same people should have made provision to care for themselves when those hard times come along.
              It is simply not acceptable for them to expect their fellow Kiwis to bail them out time after time.

              Wage suppression makes it impossible for large groups of workers to create their own safety net of more than a few weeks of savings. So your suggestion of self-insuring against hard times is impractical.

              Funny you use the term ‘bail out’. SCF bond holders, Southland farmers, kiwifruit growers all seemed OK with it.

              You say that taxes should go up at 5x 10x and 50x, how much should those taxes go up by Viper?

              History does not support what you say or the constant stream of lies coming from Cunliffe, Labour would once again hammer the middle class and offer huge bribes to the idle and the lazy.

              You must have missed the part where workers are the ones who have to apply their labour to make a living. They are not idle nor lazy. 160,000 unemployed would get straight back to work tomorrow – except Bill and John have no economic plan for creating jobs and is letting that human resource rot.

              As for how much taxes should go up by? 1956-1964 income taxes in the US for top earners was 91%. The period where the foundations of the middle class were built and wealth permeated through vast sections of US society: not just the very top.

              In fact today, 5% of Americans own more financial wealth than the bottom 95% put together. That top 5% has made their huge wealth on taking the fruits of the productive labour of the bottom 95% and returning them the least pay possible. Often offshoring American jobs in the process. Who did you say was lazy again?

              History does not support what

              Never knew you were a historian mate.

              • big bruv …
                14 December 2010 at 3:23 pm

                Your reply reeks of left wing socialist ideology..

                “Wage suppression makes it impossible for large groups of workers to create their own safety net of more than a few weeks of savings”

                What utter rubbish, what makes it impossible is the theft that is over taxation, interest free student loans, working for families and the mindset (fostered by nine years of a Labour government) that the “state” (here read tax payer) will bail out those who do not take personal responsibility for themselves and their families.

                You also put words in my mouth (if I did that to you I would be banned), I am on record as saying that SCF, Farmers and Kiwifruit growers should have been left to their own fate, if they cannot cover themselves with business insurance then tough luck.

                • bbfloyd …
                  14 December 2010 at 5:55 pm

                  big bruv.. your comment reeks of rank stupidity, compounded with an incurable bigotry… get a life… somewhere you will be happy… uganda is on the lookout for a social welfare minister.

            • Lanthanide 4.1.1.2.1.2
              14 December 2010 at 3:10 pm

              “People do fall on hard times, on that we agree, however those same people should have made provision to care for themselves when those hard times come along”
              Show me how someone on minimum wage can make provision to care for themselves when hard times come along.

              If your answer is “get a job that pays better than minimum wage”, please show me a society in which there is no minimum wage. Hint: trick question, it requires everyone to be paid $infinity.

            • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1.2.1.3
              14 December 2010 at 7:00 pm

              however those same people should have made provision to care for themselves when those hard times come along.

              My nephew has house insurance which includes redundancy/income insurance. They refuse to pay. So, he made provision but it’s not helping. His savings have been used up due to the recession. He works as much as he can but he’s still close to losing his house. What else can he do?

              BB, you’re an ideologically blind idiot.

    • Bored 4.2
      14 December 2010 at 2:15 pm

      Mr/s Parrot, the policy analysis from me is that buying an SOE is a really good idea as people must have these services provided…so far so good. But when the people can no longer afford these services…down she goes, investment devalued or lost. Mum and Dad Hotchins will say that the “market” has found its level, but they wont like it….they might ask something unique like having the state “fund” and “subsidise” those who cannot afford their services. Welfare…but now who is going to pay the tax bill, not us they say. Take on debt….but eeeekk theres no credit to be had because the system is bankrupt.

      Interestingly in the above scenario you are creating the preconditions Leninists and fascists love, the opportunity to provide legitimacy from a defunct system.

  5. tsmithfield 5
    14 December 2010 at 2:20 pm

    “A government doesn’t accidentally spend $15 billion more than its revenue while cutting billions in taxes.”

    Actually, the tax cuts are fiscally neutral, so your comment about cutting taxes is not accurate if you are talking about the whole revenue stream.

    I suspect there is timing issues with GST here. People get their tax cuts before the government picks up the GST increase.

    • r0b 5.1
      14 December 2010 at 2:25 pm

      Actually, the tax cuts are fiscally neutral, so your comment about cutting taxes is not accurate if you are talking about the whole revenue stream.

      Actually they really really aren’t.

    • lprent 5.2
      14 December 2010 at 2:30 pm

      You don’t believe Bill English do you? The only thing he is economical on is the truth – surely even you recognize that by now.

      Oh I see r0b has pointed out a relevant link.

    • mickysavage 5.3
      14 December 2010 at 2:31 pm

      TS

      The cuts were not fiscally neutral unless growth exploded and confidence was immediately restored. They did anticipate a $1b deficit in the first year even if conditions were optimal.

      Conditions are way worse. There is a big hole in the accounts and no sign of how it is going to be filled.

      Unless the nats start selling everything …

      • tsmithfield 5.3.1
        14 December 2010 at 3:13 pm

        I don’t object to pinging off a few things at all. So, if National wanted to go down that route there would be no objections from me.

        Allowing for growth in the projections is a reasonable assumption given the low base we are coming from.

        Of course, factors such as the earthquake and the impending drought were unknowns at the time. OTOH, the government stands to gain a windfall from the earthquake in the future with GST revenue from all the repairs, increased PAYE income from busy builders etc. So, things should turn around fairly quickly I expect.

        • Draco T Bastard 5.3.1.1
          14 December 2010 at 7:09 pm

          I don’t object to pinging off a few things at all.

          That’s because you’re stupid.

          There’s a reason why the government does all the government services – it’s because they’re not commercially viable but are essential.

          • tsmithfield 5.3.1.1.1
            14 December 2010 at 8:26 pm

            So on principal would you refuse to sell any government assets, including unused schools etc, no matter how good the business case?

            • Pascal's bookie 5.3.1.1.1.1
              14 December 2010 at 8:33 pm

              That’s not what he said at all. He said he doesn’t think the business case stacks up.

              Whereas you said you think selling assets to pay for a budget hole created by a poorly designed tax package is something you could support.

            • mickysavage 5.3.1.1.1.2
              14 December 2010 at 8:43 pm

              Labour also had a major drought in 2007-08 that caused the bookd to not look so good.

              And TS on principle I would tax the rich rather than sell community assets. And we are down to the bone in terms of what we can sell.

              • tsmithfield …
                14 December 2010 at 9:56 pm

                If we sell assets and repay debt then we have less interest to pay and thereby more to put into social needs.

                • Colonial Viper …
                  14 December 2010 at 10:00 pm

                  If we raise taxes and repay debt then we have less interest to pay and thereby more to put into social needs.

                  We’ll also still own our own country as a sovereignty bonus.

  6. big bruv 6
    14 December 2010 at 2:28 pm

    lol….

    r0b quotes the standard as a source……hardly independent or known for it’s accuracy.

    [lprent: It is a source that is known for linking their posts to relevant numbers. In this case Keith Ng who I observe as being addicted to accurate numbers.

    BTW: If you don’t like it here then I’m happy to enforce a voluntary (or involuntary) ban. But if you want to stay here then it’d pay you to argue on a different basis like actual numbers or analysis. Slagging off the site on no other basis than you’re too lazy to pull your head out of your arse is a fast way to wear out my tolerance. ]

    • Lanthanide 6.1
      14 December 2010 at 2:32 pm

      If you actually bothered to follow the link, you’ll see it is based around Keith Ng at Public Address.

      How about you actually rebut the article and opinion with some facts and analysis, instead of mindlessly slagging it off because it’s from “the standard”?

    • big bruv 6.2
      14 December 2010 at 2:50 pm

      Lol…..oh yes Iprent, and you are so well know for your tolerance.

      [lprent: No I’m not.

      My role here does not require it, which is why I don’t bother trying to feign it and I usually rather enjoy being more than a bit of a pain when people violate the bounds of behaviour.

      Attacking the site or authors when you’re too lazy (or too incapable) to figure a valid argument is one of the things that I specifically don’t tolerate. Read the policy.

      But you know that, so now you’re starting to waste my time and I have very little tolerance for that either. ]

  7. clandestino 7
    14 December 2010 at 3:22 pm

    A good reason for tax cuts is the ability to further pay down debt and increase savings. The lower tax take, lower household consumption data after the GST increase, and sustained consumer deleveraging is evidence it is working, slowly. The borrowing really isn’t an issue for me, just inflate, devalue, import less made in china crap and less oil thus nurturing manufacturing and alternative energies. Right now, a high dollar is only good for travellers and getting that new 3DHD 55 incher under the tree, 0% down 48 months to pay of course.

    Now if more people would only join Kiwisaver, increase savings and deepen our capital markets, we might actually get some private sector investment in this country’s talent, unemployed and potential industries. Also, mandate the Super fund to invest a % in long term growth sectors in NZ, so in 2025 we won’t be paying through the nose for our parents nappy changers.

    Captcha: Logical. Damn right it is.

    • Colonial Viper 7.1
      14 December 2010 at 10:04 pm

      The lower tax take, lower household consumption data after the GST increase, and sustained consumer deleveraging is evidence it is working, slowly.

      Yeah but its the same exact evidence that we are sliding deeper into recession.

      A good reason for tax cuts is the ability to further pay down debt and increase savings.

      Yeah but its sorta silly coz individuals can pay down private sector debt while the Government racks it up due to low tax revenue.

      All you are doing is swapping private debt for public debt. You are moving the problem, not solving it. And the rich get richer all the while, as the general tax payer gets burdened with more and more public debt.

  8. joe bloggs 8
    14 December 2010 at 4:16 pm

    The … deficit is intentional policy

    Yup, a policy of intentional $4b earthquakes is right up there amongst your best conspiracy theories Eddie

  9. Rex Widerstrom 9
    14 December 2010 at 5:30 pm

    It doesn’t seem to make sense that your answer to two diametrically opposite situations would be the same. Unless, of course, your objectives aren’t those stated.

    While not arguing against the broad thrust of your conclusion Eddie, I think you’re underestimating the role of stupidity, and hubris.

    We’re talking a Cabinet comprised of Paula Bennett, Judith Collins, Anne Tolley… hell, even John Key has only ever been successful making money off of other money, he’d have no idea how to run a productive enterprise the size of a corner dairy let alone a country.

    English has a commerce degree but (aside from the fact that those who have one tell me it’s not a lot of practical use unless you’re an accountant) he was captured by Treasury over 20 years ago when what’s needed in a Finance Minister is a healthy mistrust of Treasury so they’re always forced to offer up a range of options and opinions not just the prevailing line of thought.

    But all that wouldn’t be so bad if they realised their limitations and sought advice. However that’s where the hubris comes in. I’m sure Bennett and Collins, for instance, both sit there thinking how much better they’d be as PM, with their exciting “stop all benefits payments and offer the unemployed work building the prisons that will house them when the prison building work dries up” scheme.

    The clowns are in charge of the circus while the country is walking the tightrope.

  10. Carol 10
    14 December 2010 at 7:30 pm

    Hmmm… well Duncan Garner said on TV3 news tonight, that the government needs to stop blaming the recession and the last Labour government, and start owning the problems with the economy. However, this comment didn’t make it to Garner’s print version of the story. It’s probably in the accompanying video:
    http://www.3news.co.nz/Government-borrowing-250-million-per-week/tabid/421/articleID/190868/Default.aspx

    The TV3 news item and the print version, did feature a short quote from Goff:

    “We’re borrowing money to keep people in jobs and in their entitlements – that position can’t stay forever,” says Prime Minister John Key.

    ACT says massive cuts are needed, and Mr Key won’t do it.

    “I don’t believe they have the courage to do what’s right,” says ACT’s finance spokesman, Sir Roger Douglas.

    Labour says it is proof the October tax cuts were not affordable.

    “They are effectively paying for tax cuts for the wealthy by borrowing,” says Labour leader Phil Goff.

    So Mr English departs the stage for 2010, and the signs for 2011 are slightly better – but only just.

    • Pascal's bookie 10.1
      14 December 2010 at 8:05 pm

      ‘Overwhelmingly 92 % said they are likely to stay in NZ; but there are still a few there, 5%, said they will move to Australia and 2.3% say they will move somewhere else’.

      Oh well that’s all right then! 7.3% is a total minority and the ‘not leaving’ win this one easily!!

  11. Deadly_NZ 11
    14 December 2010 at 10:38 pm

    I’d go to Aussie but Blinglish has stolen all my money :-((So i wonder how many of the 92% are in the same boat.. You see they did not ask the right questions…

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    We already know that the rich people aren't paying their fair share. But it turns out its worse than that: we're a tax-haven! Our rich people pay lower taxes here than in any comparable country: Well-off New Zealanders are paying less tax than their peers in nine similar OECD ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Worse and worse

    Cancer Minister Casey Costello is in trouble again over her secret, magically appearing tobacco policy document. The Ombudsman has already found that she acted contrary to law in refusing requests for it; now she has been referred to the Chief Archivist over a possible breach of the Public Records Act ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • NZ’s lack of a capital gains tax means the richest here pay vastly less than elsewhere

    The lack of a capital gains tax means the richest Kiwis are sitting pretty compared to taxpayers overseas. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 19:New Zealand’s richest ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Verrall to Levy: “Health NZ NDAs are North Korean – Get rid of it.”

    Open article. Note the video of the Health Select Committee excerpts starts at 1:22 In watching the Health Select Committee yesterday, it became clear to me why Margie Apa remains Health NZ CEO.During Levy’s testimony, Apa sat like a rock next to her boss. She nodded supportively, scribbled notes to ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • The Show Must Go On

    Empty spaces, what are we living for?Abandoned places, I guess we know the score, on and onDoes anybody know what we are looking for?Another hero, another mindless crimeBehind the curtain, in the pantomimeHold the lineDoes anybody want to take it anymore?The show must go onSongwriters: Brian May / Freddie Mercury ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Managing on-street parking for local benefit

    This guest post by Malcolm McCracken originally appeared on his blog Better Things Are Possible, and is republished here by kind permission. The case for Parking Benefit Districts: managing on-street parking for local benefit Parking is often the centre of debate in our cities; particularly on-street car parks, who gets ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago
  • Doubling down?

    This is a re-post from And Then There's Physics I wrote a post a little while ago commenting on a Sabine Hossenfelder video suggesting that she was now worried about climate change because the Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS) could be much higher than most estimates have suggested. I wasn’t too taken with Sabine’s arguments, and there were others ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Too much haste & waste in Simeon Brown’s need for speed

    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong story short, the Government’s myopia of only choosing transport policies that reduce travel times means we’re missing out on the health benefits of more cycling and walking, along with the health cost savings from fewer accidents, less pollution and mentally healthier ways of getting ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • What seemed so simple is now so complex

    The Health NZ rescue that seemed so simple back in July was presented to a Select Committee yesterday as a complex challenge that could take some years to sort out. In July, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Health NZ was on track to record a deficit of $1.4 billion for ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • The utterances of Shane Jones

    Let us consider the utterances of Shane Jones.Let us consider the derogatory terms of abuseNow is not the time for Green Wombles, it's black and white decision making.We will stand with the energy industry and ensure they are not monstered by Green Termites nibbling away at our economic capital.The Green ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Ukrainian militia receives defective shipment of pagers that just send and receive messages

    There’s been a major setback for one Ukrainian-backed militia on the Russian border, after the group ordered a large shipment of pagers to use as improvised explosive devices. The plan was to litter the pagers throughout abandoned homes and buildings in hopes of wounding Russian soldiers. But upon arrival of ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    3 days ago
  • A constitutional shitshow

    Last month, we learned that the government was half-arsing its anti-gang legislation, adding a significant, pre-planned, BORA-abusing amendment at the committee stage, avoiding all the usual scrutiny processes. But it gets worse. Because having done it once, they're now planning to recall the bill in order to add another such ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Political Round Up

    Note: An earlier version of this article noted Levy was a “party time Health NZ commissioner” - this has been updated - forgive my Freudian slip.Dr Lester Levy is charging $320,000 a year to be a part time Health NZ commissioner. Rachel Thomas reports that Levy is still teaching 2 ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Postcard from Sydney: Southwest and City Metro extension

    This is a guest post from Sydney reader Nik Clement After 2 years in Auckland I moved back to Sydney just over a year ago. While in Auckland, I went to the opening of Puhinui station and used it a fair bit, living in Manukau Central and being able ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago
  • Tolling revolt brewing in National heartland

    Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 18:Locals gathered in Woodville last night to protest at the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s decision to toll the new road linking the Manawatu and Hawkes Bay, saying ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • The doom spiral

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In his last post, Zeke discussed incredible warmth of 2023 and 2024 and its implications for future warming. A few readers looked at it and freaked out: This is terrifying and This update really put me in a ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Government directs Te Puni Kōkiri to conduct Māori Language Week in English

    The coalition government has issued a directive to Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development, instructing them that – in the interests of clear communication – they are to conduct this year’s Māori Language Week primarily or exclusively in English. The directive is in line with the Government’s policy ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    4 days ago
  • Government celebrates fact that New Zealand’s healthcare is so good people are queuing up for it a...

    At yesterday’s post-cabinet press conference, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, flanked by his Health Minister Shane Reti and someone we can’t independently verify was a real sign language interpreter, announced that he had some positive news for the country. “Alright team, I’m just going to hand over to uh, Dr. Shane, ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    4 days ago
  • Heartwarming: Thoughtful driver uses indicator to tell you what they’ve just done

    It’s 4:10pm in the morning, and you’re in the middle lane heading north on the great southern motorway of our nation’s capital, Auckland. There are no cars directly in front of you, but quite a few in the lane to your left. Suddenly, without warning, a black ute enters your ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    4 days ago
  • NPC teams will now be allowed to actually use the Ranfurly Shield in play

    Following decades of controversy, the governing body of New Zealand rugby, New Zealand Rugby, has ruled that the team currently holding the Ranfurly Shield may once again use it in play during the National Provincial Championship (NPC). The ruling restores the utility of a prize that for many years was ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    4 days ago
  • Climbing out of the hamster wheel

    I arrived home with a head full of fresh ideas about mindfulness and curbing impulsive aspects in my character.On the second night home I grabbed a piece of ginger and began swiftly slicing it on our industrial strength mandolin, the one I have learned through painful experience to treat with ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • More Notes From Stinky Town

    Good morning, folks. Another wee note from a chilly Rotorua morning that looks much clearer than yesterday. As I write, the pink glow in the east is slowly growing, and soon, the palest of blue skies should become a bit more royal.A couple of people mentioned yesterday that I should ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Make it make sense: why axe valuable local projects?

    Last week, Matt looked at how the government wants to pour a huge chunk of civic infrastructure funding for a generation  into one mega-road up North, at huge cost and huge opportunity cost. A smaller but no less important feature of the National Land Transport Plan devised by Minister of Transport ...
    Greater AucklandBy Jolisa
    4 days ago
  • Driving blind at higher speeds

    An open letter by experts about plans to raise speed limits warns the “tragic consequence will be more New Zealanders losing their lives or suffering severe injury, along with a substantial burden on the nation's healthcare and rehabilitation services”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • 2024’s unusually persistent warmth

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink My inaugural post on The Climate Brink 18 months ago looked at the year 2024, and found that it was likely to be the warmest year on record on the back of a (than forecast) El Nino event. I suggested “there is a real chance ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • National plan for 2000 more Kiwis a year in prison

    Open for allYesterday, Luxon congratulated his government on a job well done with emergency housing numbers, but advocates have been saying it‘s likely many are on the streets and sleeping in cars.Q&A featured some of the folks this weekend - homeless and in cars. Yes.The government’s also confirmed they stopped ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • I Found a Note in a Tree

    Hi,On most days I try to go on a walk through nature to clear my head from the horrors of life. Because as much as I like people, I also think it’s incredibly important to get very far away from them. To be reminded that there are also birds, lizards, ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Politicians need to lift their game

    Declining trust in New Zealand politicians should be a warning to them to lift their game. Results from the New Zealand Election Study for the 2023 election show that the level of trust in politicians has once again declined. Perhaps it is not surprising that the results, shared as part ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Police say they won’t respond to bomb threats anymore as ‘it’s never anything’

    Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says that New Zealand’s police force will no longer respond to bomb threats, in an attempt to cut costs and redirect police resources to less boring activities. Coster said that threat response and bomb disposal was a “fairly obvious” area for downsizing, as bomb threats are ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    5 days ago
  • A dysfunctional watchdog

    The reality of any right depends on how well it is enforced. But as The Post points out this morning, our right to official information isn't being enforced very well at all: More than a quarter of complaints about access to official information languish for more than a year, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: The threat of a good example

    Since taking office, the climate-denier National government has gutted agricultural emissions pricing, ended the clean car discount, repealed water quality standards which would have reduced agricultural emissions, gutted the clean car standard, killed the GIDI scheme, and reversed efforts to reduce pollution subsidies in the ETS - basically every significant ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vegas Baby

    Good morning, lovely people. Don’t worry. This isn’t really a newsletter, just a quick note. I’m sitting in our lounge, looking out over a gloomy sky. Although being Rotorua, the view is periodically interrupted by steam bursting from pipes and dispersing—like an Eastern European industrial hellscape during the Cold War.Drinking ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Why Entrust Needs New Leadership

    I am part of a new team running in the Entrust election in October. Entrust is a community electricity trust representing a significant part of Auckland, set up to serve the community. It is governed by five trustees are elected every three years in an election the trust itself oversees. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • London Bridge is falling down

    In the UK, London is the latest of council groups to signal potential bankruptcy.That’s after Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city, went bankrupt in June, resulting in reduced sanitation services, libraries cut, and dimmed streetlights.Some in the city described things as “Dickens” like.Please, Sir, Can I have some more?For families with ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Govt may kick elderly out of hospitals

    The Government is considering how to shunt elderly people out of hospitals, and also how to cut their access to other support. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Getting the nephs off the couch

    The so-called “Prince of the Provinces”, Shane Jones, went home last Friday. Perhaps not quite literally home, more like 20 kilometres down the road from his house on the outskirts of Kerikeri. With its airport, its rapidly growing (mostly retired) population, and a commercial centre with all the big retail ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • De moralibus orcorum: Sargon of Akkad, Rings of Power, Evil, and George R.R. Martin

    I have noted before that The Rings of Power has attracted its unfortunate share of culture war obsessives. Essentially, for a certain type of individual, railing on about the Wokery of Modern Media is a means of making themselves a online livelihood. Clicks and views and advertising revenue, and all ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #37

    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 8, 2024 thru Sat, September 14, 2024. Story of the week From time to time we like to make our Story of the Week all about us— and ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago
  • Salvation For Us All

    Yesterday, I ruminated about the effects of being a political follower.And, within politics, David Seymour was smart enough on Friday to divert attention from “race blind” policies [what about gender blind I thought - thinking of maternity wards] and cutting school lunches by throwing meat to the media. Teachers were ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A warm embrace

    Far, far away from here lives our King. Some of his subjects can be quite the forelock tuggers, but plenty of us are not like that, and why don't I wheel out my favourite old story once more about Kiwi soldiers in the North African desert?Field Marshal Montgomery takes offence ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Literal clowns are running the place, we must put a timeout on this stupidity… right Aotearoa?

    These people are inept on every level. They’re inept to the detriment of our internal politics, cohesion and increasingly our international reputation. And they are reveling in the fact they are getting away with it. We cannot even have “respectful debate” with a government that clearly rejects the very ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    6 days ago
  • Fact brief – Does manmade CO2 have any detectable fingerprint?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago
  • Judge Not.

    Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago
  • Managed Democracy: Letting The People Decide, But Only When They Can Be Relied Upon To Give the Righ...

    Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens! The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago
  • Looking For Labour’s Vital Signs.

    Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago
  • Forty Years Of Remembering To Forget.

    The Beginning of the End: Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago
  • Kōrero Mai – Speak to Me.

    Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Winning ways

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Street architecture adjustment, KolkataShare Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • 48 seconds on a plan that would reverberate for a million years

    Despite fears that Trump presidency would be disastrous for progress on climate change, the topic barely rated a mention in the Presidential debate. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Using blunt instruments and magical thinking to ignore evidence of harm

    The abrupt cancellations and suspensions of Government spending also caused private sector hiring, spending, and investment to freeze up for the first six months of the year. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThis week we learned:The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Is This A Dagger Which I See Before Me: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power Episode 5 (Seaso...

    Another week of The Rings of Power, season two, and another confirmation that things are definitely coming together for the show. The fifth Episode of season one represented the nadir of the series. Now? Amid the firmer footing of 2024, Episode Five represents further a further step towards excellent Tolkien ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • In Open Seas; A Book

    The background to In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong:2017-2023Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, published in 2020, proved more successful than either I or the publisher (VUP, now Te Herenga Waka University Press) expected. I had expected that it would ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 13

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Do or do not. There is no try

    1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Dangerous ground

    The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back on National's proposed changes to gut the Marine and Coastal Area Act and steal the foreshore and seabed for its greedy fishing-industry donors, and declared it to be another huge violation of ti Tiriti: The Waitangi Tribunal has found government changes to the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: National wants to cheat on Paris

    In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Treasury warned Govt lower debt limits meant less ‘productivity-enhancing investment’

    Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. But Luxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Is the Media Complicit?

    This is a long read. Open to all.SYNOPSIS: Traditional media is at a cross roads. There is a need for those in the media landscape, as it stands, to earn enough to stay afloat, but also come across as balanced and neutral to keep its audiences.In America, NYT’s liberal leaning ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Black Friday

    It's Black Friday, the end of the weekYou take my hand and hold it gently up against your cheekIt's all in my head, it's all in my mindI see the darkness where you see the lightSong by Tom OdellFriday the 13th, don’t be afraid.No, really, don’t. Everything has felt a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Tourism on the table for Pacific Ministers’ meet-up

    Tourism and Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey will meet with Trade and Tourism Minister of Australia Don Farrell and Fiji Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica in Rotorua this weekend for a trilateral tourism discussion. “Like in New Zealand, tourism plays a significant role in Australia and Fiji’s economy, contributing massively to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • Young people report on family and sexual violence

    The Te Puna Aonui Expert Advisory Group for Children and Young People has presented its report today on improving family and sexual violence outcomes for young people, to the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour.  The presentation at the Auckland event was an opportunity for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • $18 million being invested in the victims of crime

    The Government is putting more than $18 million towards improving the experience of the criminal justice system for victims, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Minister for Children Karen Chhour say. “No one should experience crime, but for those who through no fault of their own become victims, they need to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • Landmark phonics check in te reo Māori

    For the first time, schools can use a purpose-built tool to check how a child is progressing in reading through te reo Māori. “Around 45 schools are trialling a New Zealand first te reo Māori phonics check, known as Hihira Weteoro. It will help kaiako (teachers) focus on what ākonga ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago
  • New sea walls safeguard Ōpōtiki’s transformation

    Two new breakwater walls at Pākihikura (Ōpōtiki) Harbour will provide boats with safe harbour access to support the continued growth of aquaculture in Bay of Plenty, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones say. The Ministers and leaders from Tē Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea and other ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • Kitmap to improve access to science infrastructure

    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced an online platform to optimise the use of New Zealand’s science and technology research infrastructure and to link the public and private sector. “This country is home to world-class science, technology, and engineering expertise. Kitmap is set to empower Kiwi innovators, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • Driving the uptake of low emission heavy vehicles

    The Government has launched the Low Emissions Heavy Vehicle Fund (LEHVF) to promote innovation and offset the cost of hundreds of heavy vehicles powered by clean technologies, Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts say. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • Speech on replacing the Resource Management Act

    Replacing the RMA Hon Chris Bishop: Good morning, it is great to be with you. Can I first acknowledge the Resource Management Law Association for hosting us here today. Can I also acknowledge my Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Simon Court, who is on stage with me. He has assisted me in establishing the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • Replacement for the Resource Management Act takes shape

    Two new laws will be developed to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), with the enjoyment of property rights as their guiding principle, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say. “The RMA was passed with good intentions in 1991 but has proved a failure in practice. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Tough laws pass to make gang life uncomfortable

    Legislation passed through Parliament today will provide police and the courts with additional tools to crack down on gangs that peddle misery and intimidation throughout New Zealand, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “From November 21, gang insignia will be banned in all public places, courts will be able to issue non-consorting orders, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New levy rates set to ensure continued funding of FENZ

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the rates for the redesigned levy that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) from July 2026.  “Earlier this year FENZ consulted publicly on a 5.2 percent increase to the levy. I was not convinced that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Police allocate Officers to Beat and Gang Units

    The Coalition Government welcomes Police’s announcement today to deploy more police on the beat and staff to Gang Disruption Units.  An additional 70 officers will be allocated to Community Beat Teams across towns and regional centres.  This builds on the deployment of beat officers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch CBDs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Consultation begins on significant updates to the biosecurity system

    Proposals to strengthen the country’s vital biosecurity system, including higher fines for passengers bringing in undeclared high-risk goods, greater flexibility around importing requirements, and fairer cost sharing for biosecurity responses have been released today for public consultation. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says “The future is about resilience and the 30-year-old ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Wānaka community to benefit from new overnight health service

    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says an Overnight Acute Care Service opening in October will provide people in Wānaka and the surrounding area with the assurance of quality overnight care closer to home.  “When I was in Wānaka earlier this year, I announced funding for an overnight health service – ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Preventing potholes with data-driven technology

    The Government is rolling out data collection vans across the country to better understand the condition of our road network to prevent potholes from forming in the first place, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is a key priority for the Government and increasing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • GDP data shows effect of high interest rates

    Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for the quarter to June 2024 reinforces how an extended period of high interest rates has meant tough times for families, businesses, and communities, but recent indications show the economy is starting to bounce back, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ data released today ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • NZ to host first Fiji, Australia trilateral trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua

    Trade Minister Todd McClay will host Fijian Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica and Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for trilateral trade talks in Rotorua this weekend. “Fiji is one of the largest economies in the Pacific and is a respected partner for Australia and New Zealand,” Mr McClay says. Australia and New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • NZ hosts Annual CER Trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua

    Trade Minister Todd McClay will meet with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua this weekend.  “CER is our most comprehensive agreement covering trade, labour mobility, harmonisation of standards and political cooperation. It underpins an important trading relationship worth $32 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government proposing changes to jury trials

    The Government is seeking the public’s feedback on two major changes to jury trials in order to improve court timeliness, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “The first proposal would increase the offence threshold at which a defendant can decide to have their case heard by a jury. “The second is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Business key to regional economic dialogue

    Local businesses and industries need to be front and centre in conversations about how regions plan to grow their economies, Regional Development Shane Jones says. The nationwide series of summits aims to facilitate conversations about regional economic growth and opportunities to drive productivity, prosperity and resilience through the Coalition Government’s Regional ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • More funding for Growing Up in New Zealand study

    The Government is investing $16.8 million over the next four years to extend the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) Longitudinal Study. GUiNZ is New Zealand’s largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing and has followed the lives of more than 6000 children born in 2009 and 2010, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Tough targets for charter schools will raise achievement

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that Charter Schools will face a combination of minimum performance thresholds and stretch targets for achievement, attendance and financial sustainability. “Charter schools will be given greater freedom to respond to diverse student needs in innovative ways, but they will be held to a much ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • NZ votes for Middle East resolution at UN

    New Zealand has voted for a United Nations resolution on Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian Territory with some caveats, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand’s yes vote is fundamentally a signal of our strong support for international law and the need for a two-state solution,” Mr Peters says.    “The Israel-Palestine ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Honouring the legacy of New Zealand’s suffragists

    Suffrage Day is an opportunity to reaffirm New Zealand’s commitment to ensuring we continue to be a world leader in gender equality, Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says. “On 19 September, 131 years ago, New Zealand became the first nation in the world where women gained the right to vote. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Foreign Minister to travel to New York, French Polynesia

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is travelling to New York next week to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, followed by a visit to French Polynesia. “In the context of the myriad regional and global crises, our engagements in New York will demonstrate New Zealand’s strong support for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Thanking social workers on their national day

    “Today, on Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day, I would like to recognise the tremendous effort social workers make not just today, but every day,” Children’s Minister and Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour says. “I thank all those working on the front line for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Minister of State for Trade heads to Laos for ASEAN meetings

    Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg will travel to Laos this week to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers’ Meetings in Vientiane.   “The Government is committed to strengthening our relationship with ASEAN,” Ms Grigg says. “With next year marking 50 years since New Zealand became ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Members appointed to retail crime MAG

    The Government has appointed four members to the Ministerial Advisory Group for victims of retail crime, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “I am delighted to appoint Michael Hill’s national retail manager Michael Bell to the group, as well as Waikato community advocate and business ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation AGM and Conference 2024

    It’s my pleasure to be here to join the opening of the NZNO AGM and Conference for 2024.  First, I’d like to thank NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, NZNO President, Anne Daniels, and Chief Execuitve Paul Gaulter for inviting me to speak today.  Thank you also to all the NZNO members ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Improvements for New Zealand authors

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says changes to the Public Lending Right [PLR] scheme will help benefit both the National Library and authors who have books available in New Zealand libraries. “I am amending the regulations so that eligible authors will no longer have to reapply every year ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister commends Police for gang operation

    Police Minister Mark Mitchell congratulates Police for the outstanding result of their most recent operation, targeting the Comancheros. “That Police have been able to round up the majority of the Comancheros leadership, and many of their patched members and prospects, shows not only the capability of Police, but also shows ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • New appointments to the EPA board

    Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has announced a major refresh of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) board with four new appointments and one reappointment.   The new board members are Barry O’Neil, Jennifer Scoular, Alison Stewart and Nancy Tuaine, who have been appointed for a three-year term ending in August 2027.  “I would ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Enabling rural recovery works in Hawke’s Bay

    Cabinet has approved an Order in Council to enable severe weather recovery works to continue in the Hawke’s Bay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell say. “Cyclone Gabrielle and the other severe weather events in early 2023 caused significant loss and damage to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • FamilyBoost childcare payment registrations open

    From today, low-to-middle-income families with young children can register for the new FamilyBoost payment, to help them meet early childhood education (ECE) costs. The scheme was introduced as part of the Government’s tax relief plan to help Kiwis who are doing it tough. “FamilyBoost is one of the ways we ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Prioritising victims with tougher sentences

    The Government has today agreed to introduce sentencing reforms to Parliament this week that will ensure criminals face real consequences for crime and victims are prioritised, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. "In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Targets data confirms rise in violent crime

    The first quarterly report on progress against the nine public service targets show promising results in some areas and the scale of the challenge in others, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “Our Government reinstated targets to focus our public sector on driving better results for New Zealanders in health, education, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Asia Foundation Board appointments announced

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointments of Hone McGregor, Professor David Capie, and John Boswell to the Board of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.  Bede Corry, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has also been appointed as an ex-officio member. The new trustees join Dame Fran Wilde (Chair), ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Endeavour Fund projects for economic growth

    New Zealand’s largest contestable science fund is investing in 72 new projects to address challenges, develop new technology and support communities, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. “This Endeavour Fund round being funded is focused on economic growth and commercial outputs,” Ms Collins says. “It involves funding of more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Social Services Providers Whakamanawa National Conference 16 September 2024

    Thank you for the introduction and the invitation to speak to you here today. I am honoured to be here in my capacity as Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, and Minister for Children. Thank you for creating a space where we can all listen and learn, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Parihaka infrastructure upgrades funded

    The Government will provide a $5.8 million grant to improve water infrastructure at Parihaka in Taranaki, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka say. “This grant from the Regional Infrastructure Fund will have a multitude of benefits for this hugely significant cultural site, including keeping local ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

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