Sunday Morons: an omnibus of silly people

Written By: - Date published: 1:02 pm, October 10th, 2010 - 19 comments
Categories: auckland supercity, C&R, john key, local body elections, local government, politicans, rodney hide, scoundrels, Spying, the praiseworthy and the pitiful - Tags: , , , , , , , ,

A few brickbats for people who have been shown to have really screwed up this week.

Obviously the biggest screwup this week is Paul Henry whose ratings driven bigotry came to a abrupt halt after he went far too far. This site has had an awful lot of page views from India on some posts. Hopefully they’d have found that this type of idiocy isn’t tolerated by all kiwis – just a noisy but insignificant minority. Of course John Key’s performance in not condemning this bigotry on-air at the time doesn’t exactly sit well with either our recent generations of immigrants or with our image overseas. That is what eventually happens when you sit on the fence about your mates without being clear about what is tolerable.

Michael Lhaws, in his usual copycat style, tried to follow the Breakfast bigot on monday at Radio Live in commenting on our governor general, and has been remarkably quiet ever since. He also is now in the position of barely scraping into the Whanganui council where he will be even more ineffectual than he has been in the past.

Rodney Hide was effectual only in driving the hard right out of politics in the Auckland super-shitty. Citizens and Ratepayers, the shadow political party that includes both the National and Act supporters in it, did extremely badly in the council elections. They dropped down to 5 members in the 22 member council, and of those who got elected all but one were centrists. The sole hard-right survivor will be quite lonely in the new Auckland.

A similar pattern of voting out the idiotic hard right was followed across the local boards*.  The Auckland Council now needs to make those boards effective by delegating the powers and the budget to be able to do anything.

I’m pretty sure that this wasn’t the gerrymander result that Rodney Hide wanted to see when he setup the super-shitty. The inevitable result explains why he has been progressively removing control away from those democratically elected by Aucklanders and into his unelected hand picked minions in the boards of the blatantly mis-named “Council Controlled Organisations”. These organisations have virtually no effective control by the council and are instead effectively run by the Ministry of Local Government – whose current minister is Rodney Hide.

The big battle in Auckland over the coming three years will be for the council to assert their control back over Aucklands assets. News this week had the architect of the transitional authority Mark Ford being placed as CEO of Watercare services. Since Hide had previously appointed him chairman of Auckland Transport, it means that the main battle will between our recently deposed dictator and his flunkies and the newly elected council.

The unedifying charges of electoral forgery in the Papatoetoe ward were disturbing for several reasons. Like No Right Turn, I find that the technical name suppression in a case that has a clear overriding public interest is quite disturbing. What I find even more irritating is that the Labour party allowed the use of their brand and obviously didn’t maintain sufficient control over the candidates using that brand. The subsequent actions of the local government commission in detecting the problem, the police in investigating it, and the Labour party for assisting that investigation and stating their position appear to have been exemplary.

John Key looked a bit ummm.. upset with the results in Auckland. It doesn’t bode well for the right in next years general election. Intransigence by the government in Wellington about returning control of Auckland council assets back to Auckland Council is probably going to be a major issue over the coming year. While the consequences of decisions about imposing the super-shitty on Auckland have largely fallen on the hard-right, doing his usual ineffectual smile-n-wave on control of assets isn’t going to be tolerable for Aucklanders of most political tendencies.

Richard Treadgold of the Climate Science Coalition – the idiots who are taking NIWA to court, was claiming victory in a long, rambling, and incoherent post before the case has ever gone to court. Apparently he thinks that the NIWA document that restated their statutory obligations means that there is a change in position in NIWA. To me it simply looks like more of the same delusional thinking that characterizes the CSC.

Similarly, a report in the Baptist website had Ian Wishart claiming that the issues facing Takuu (the subject of my producer partners award winning documentary – “There once was an island“) were fabrications is simply delusional. Wishart has such an understanding of the science of climate that he cites decade old documents from NASA designed for mid-school children as being worthy of his scientific approval – and still misunderstood it.

In baptist article about Takuu he cites various activities like dynamite fishing and coral harvesting that have never happened on Takuu. His point about tectonic plate movement that has now been disproved and was never feasible as a cause in the human timeframe anyway. Fabrication of theories based on inadequate evidence appears to be Ian Wisharts favorite investigative technique, which probably explains why he sees it in everyone else.

Advertorial: The documentary looks at the response of the Takuu islanders to changes in their local conditions rather than the debate on climate change. But make up your own mind. “There Once was an Island” is screening at Wellington’s Paramount Theatre 8pm this Sunday October 10 as part of the 350 Global Climate Change Working Bee. Tickets are $20.

Also delusional this week is the governments decision to run a civil case against the Waihopia 3. The crown lost the criminal case against them primarily because the GCSB would not testify on what they do at the spybase thereby refuting the defendants claims of what they thought was going on there. The crown are now running a civil damage case. This looks purely vindictive, costly, unlikely to produce a good result for the crown, and in any event ineffectual at recovering the claim.

I can foresee some considerable amusement castigating this penny-pinching government for wasting the resources required to pursue this vendetta. They’d be better off using them to beef up security at the base and getting its role more clearly defined in the public eye so that a similar defense cannot be successfully used again. Of course if the latter is impossible because it is truthful, then a vendetta may be the governments only option.

However the most stupid event this week was National starting a new round of leaky home problems before the last one is cleaned up. The consultation document makes it quite clear that the primary motivation for shifting all interior wood to H1.2 rather than the current mix of H1.2 and H3.1, the latter currently used in the higher wet risk areas, is motivated by perceived efficiencies in the supply chain rather than the primary issue of having safer homes.

As a person who has had to help fix a leaky apartment, sued everyone in creation, nearly gone into bankruptcy over it, and been lucky enough to get a settlement – I’m pissed off with this moronic focus on build costs. There is still an outstanding bill of $11-23 billion on the last round of misplaced ‘efficiencies’ from a previous National governments decisions in 1991, with people living in rotting housing and public building requiring massive repairs. Many councils are heading for bankruptcies as home owners manage to fight their way through to court. The promised support to get the houses back up to scratch is stalled because the government is unwilling to push it – so this is the time that they want to start the problems again? Idiotic. But that defined this government – they over-promise, under deliver, and focus on side-show trivialities like non-existent cycleways.

* I have to congratulate various bloggers for getting into the local boards with significiant votes. It looks like Julie Fairey, Greg Presland, and Peter Haynes are all in. However I think that Rocky missed out. In minor news, Cameron Slater managed to get deluded 1100 people to vote for him. I’m sure I’ve missed a few – speak up.

19 comments on “Sunday Morons: an omnibus of silly people ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Draco T Bastard 1
    10 October 2010 at 1:34 pm

    Your link to NACT creating more badly built homes goes to NRT: Labour on Singh. And, after their legislative failure that created the leaky homes in the first place, I’m not surprised to find NACT doing it again. Everything to benefit them and their rich mates (It will boost profits) but absolutely no help to anyone else.

    • lprent 1.1
      10 October 2010 at 1:41 pm

      Fixed (usual editing error).

      The consultation document is pretty explicit that the main reason for the change is to simplify the supply chain and the site management of materials. The support in the document about the potential effects on the robustness of dwellings is cursory at best. It appears to rely almost entirely on a single study which I couldn’t link to.

      The timeframe and end-date for the ‘consultation’ follows the well established NACT pattern when they want to slide something dubious under the radar. It is very short and the decision time is designed to happen during the mid-summer torpor.

    • lprent 2.1
      10 October 2010 at 1:50 pm

      Interesting. But I’d agree with the statements made by the Councillor on the use of psuedonyms, and disagree with the WCC Watch site. If you read our policy on privacy you’ll see that we explicitly disapprove of that use of private information.

      Quite simply you have to be in a position running a blog site where people are able to trust that the private parts of the information that they leave remain private. If you want to deal with someone being a silly bugger, then you should deal with it in moderation, without disclosing the reasons to all and sundry. To do anything else is to reduce the flow of candid comment.

      The alternative is the ‘outing’ circus that went on in 2007/8 largely by such luminaries as Cameron Slater, but also by some on the left. The numbers of comments on sites (and that are still running) that did that is still minimal. The really daft thing is that most of the ‘outers’ were proponents of free speech who managed to stifle it with being silly buggers.

      • smhead 2.1.1
        10 October 2010 at 1:55 pm

        That is interesting Lynn. I take the view that people seeking public office have no right to pseudenyms. People voting should have a right to see what a candidate has or hasn’t publicly said and how consistent those messages are.

        • lprent 2.1.1.1
          10 October 2010 at 2:05 pm

          As I said, we take privacy seriously on this site, and why we take action. Which is why I just deleted part of one of your previous comments.

          If people care to expose their identity, then I don’t care – it is their decision. But using a pseudonym as far as I’m concerned is an explicit act to protect their privacy. Quite simply a good pseudonym is another personality which is often a facet of the persons overall personality. It deserves protection in the interests of fostering debate. My various lprent roles (sysop, moderator, poster, and commentator) are quite different, and when I was using AncientGeek, it was different again.

          That being said, I do tend to monitor who is saying what. I’d expect that most candidates will do their commenting under disclosed identities – it tends to be silly to do otherwise. However that usually takes the form of us e-mailing them and warning them (which has happened a few times) or directly moderating them if they fall into the defamatory, self-promotional or troll behaviours.

          Frequently you find that people have a online personality long before they seek office. What do you do then? Blame them for something they wrote with an expectation of privacy 20 years ago?

          • smhead 2.1.1.1.1
            10 October 2010 at 2:15 pm

            I don’t know why you deleted that comment Lynn. The person named is widely published as the blogger concerned, you even included him in the list of “bloggers” who got elected.

            • lprent 2.1.1.1.1.1
              10 October 2010 at 2:23 pm

              It might be ‘widely known’. However I haven’t seen the person make that explicit disclosure in the media or on this site.

              Have you forgotten the ‘wide disclosure’ that that fool Whaleoil did saying that r0b was Rob Salmond? It was completely wrong, but still gets repeated by idiots even here. How can you know who it is if you don’t have access to the backend of the blog without a disclosure by a system operator? Quite simply you were making an unsubstantiated presumption and treating it as fact.

              Note that I didn’t link the pseudonyms of candidates except for Rocky (and Julie when I let comments go through congratulating her) who are explicit about who they are. Hell I never linked Whaleoil with Cameron Slater until after he went public about it himself.

              • smhead …
                10 October 2010 at 2:28 pm

                No I didn’t forget the wide disclorsure about rob lynne because I wasn’t commenting then and didn’t read either this blog or the other one then.

                No you didn’t link the pseudonym lynne but you did say that all three were bloggers. We know who Julie and Rocky are, so maybe you can give some evidence to your claim that the third person you named is a blogger by giving evidence of his blog output.

                • lprent …
                  10 October 2010 at 2:31 pm

                  Why would I do that? It’d be like revealing who you really are…

                  Should I do that as well? I could probably backtrack it if I cared to do so and have a fairly good chance of pinning some identity info down.

                  The rules that protect him are the same rules that protect you from my intrusive prying into your identity.

  3. smhead 3
    10 October 2010 at 2:35 pm

    Yeah you are welcome to track me down if you like Lynne.

    For the record, above you have listed Greg Presland as a blogger. I have googled a blog under his name, and I haven’t found one. There are however various google references to him which is probably not surprising since he is a high profile labour activist.

    • lprent 3.1
      10 October 2010 at 2:44 pm

      I’m a high profile Labour activist as well and have been so since the early 90’s (if you’d been around in Labour operational circles)

      But if you look prior to starting this blog, you won’t find any crossover between my pseudonyms and my real identity either. You will find material that I wrote as myself on usenet, but that is about all. That was probably less than 5% of my writing across the net in various forums.

      The rule here is that we don’t allow peoples pseudonyms to ‘outed’ unless they do so themselves. Comment in the site and you follow our rules.

  4. freedom 4
    10 October 2010 at 3:30 pm

    i am not a lawyer but in one way i would love to see the government stride ahead with the Waihopai case because in order to win they would have to produce an invoice for the said repairs. Also because it would be a PR disaster in a social and a judicial sense. The defendants do not have the resources to pay any eventual settlement anyway.

    Primarily though, the issue would pivot on the oft repeated statement that it cost $1million to repair the damage to the base. It is my understanding that they cannot produce anythng resembling a legitimate invoice as the U.S.A. (via the Echelon programme) paid for the repairs in order to avoid disclosure over responsibilities for the operation, management and maintenance of the base.

    Any invoice they do present will only be a rabbithole map to other issues that the past Goverments of this country have worked diligently on keeping out of the public arena

  5. Julie 5
    10 October 2010 at 5:15 pm

    Thanks for the congrats :). Bit of a shock and a whirlwind so still catching up on everything. Should be a fun new adventure!!

  6. Doug 6
    10 October 2010 at 7:56 pm

    Dear Lprent

    Not that I really care about what he thinks as my opinion of him could not be lower if I dug a trench, his name is actually Richard Treadgold.

    Cheers Doug

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    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago

  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago

  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago

  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    6 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    7 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 week ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 week ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • COP28 National Statement for New Zealand
    Tēnā koutou katoa Mr President, Excellencies, Delegates. An island nation at the bottom of the Pacific, New Zealand is unique.          Our geography, our mountains, lakes, winds and rainfall helps set us up for the future, allowing for nearly 90 per cent of our electricity to come from renewable sources. I’m ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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