The Christian Right and the 2020 election

Written By: - Date published: 11:29 am, July 12th, 2020 - 90 comments
Categories: conservative party, election 2020, hone harawira, national, new conservatives, uncategorized - Tags: ,

One thing I have never understood is why the religious right have not been able to get its act together and achieve a proper Parliamentary presence.

I know there was United Future in 2002 under Peter Dunne.  But that was a marriage of convenience, a relationship with benefits of some pretty strange bedfellows.  And it subsequently crashed and burned.

At the first MMP election in 1996 there was the Christian Coalition which went close, achieving 4.33% of the party vote.  Its then leader, Graham Capill, was subsequently convicted of multiple sexual offences against girls under 12 years of age and sentenced to nine years imprisonment in 2005.

In 1999 the movement split.  The Christian Heritage Party stood again and gained 2.38% of the vote.  But also standing that election was the Future Party (1.12%), which subsequently gave United Future its christian beliefs, and the United Party which had Peter Dunne elected to Ohariu on a sweetheart deal with National.

In 2002 United Future peaked at 6.69%, thanks to a digital worm liking Dunne’s centrist bland utterances.  Dunne subsequently employed the worm in the party’s advertising, thankfully without the same result.  National’s implosion that year released a number of voters who found comfort in Dunne’s centrist musings.  Christian Heritage scored just 1.35% of the party vote.

In 2005 United Future crashed to 2.67% of the vote.  Other Christian parties standing that year included Christian Heritage (again) this time on 0.12% and Destiny Church which fared slightly better on 0.62%.  The election campaign was dominated however by another group of Christians that paradoxically do not vote.  The Exclusive Brethren Seventh Day Adventist Church were discovered to have paid huge amounts towards publicity for an anti Labour Green campaign and National leader Don Brash was publicly implicated, despited denials.

2008 was a bad year for christians.  The New Zealand Pacific Party, formed by outed Labour MP Taito Phillip Field, failed miserably and scored 0.37% of the party vote.  Even the Bill and Ben Party did better.  Christian Heritage had succumbed to infighting and Capill’s conviction publicity and did not contest the election.

In 2011 a rebranded Conservative Party achieved 2.65% of the vote.  Dunne’s United Future Party sank further to achieve 0.6% of the vote.  Only National’s nod and wink in Ohariu saved him.

In 2014 funded by huge amounts of money from Colin Craig the Conservative Party scored 3.97% of the vote.  Craig was subsequently accused of decidedly unconservative behaviour for a married man by his former press secretary Rachael MacGregor.  For some bizarre reason the legal repercussions of that are still felt today.

And in 2017, no doubt burned by ongoing publicity relating to Craig, the Conservative Party achieved only 0.2% of the party vote.

Apologies for the length of this but the basic point that I am making is that if the Christian Conservative Block ever got its act together it could establish a presence in Parliament.  Thankfully it has not.

How are things looking this year?  Even more chaotic.

We have three, yes three conservative christian parties standing for Parliament.

There are the New Conservatives, the inheritors of the the parties managed by Graeme Capill and by Colin Craig.  But they have descended into Trumpian American Republican let’s ban all face mask territory.  And they are showing signs of being decidedly racist.

From Corazon Miller at Newshub:

The [New Conservative] party – which emerged from Colin Craig’s Conservatives – wants a full repeal of the post-Christchurch terror attack gun-laws. Its rhetoric has drawn comparisons to white nationalism.

Canterbury man Lee Williams has spoken out at rallies against what he sees as the infiltration of the West by people of colour.

“A New Zealand is going down the exact same path of importing in an alien culture that refuses to integrate,” he is heard at a recent free-speech rally.

He has given his full backing to the New Conservative Party in another video on his page. 

Williams is not the only strange person involved.  Leader Leighton Baker thinks that the Government is wanting to turn the country into North Korea.  Deputy Elliott Ikilei wants to “get rid of anything that changes Māori to something special and high up”.  Botany candidate Dieuwe de Boer is concerned that declining Western populations are being replenished by migrants.  The Christchurch shooter thought the same.

One of their policy platforms is to ban single women with young children from having sleepovers.  Maybe they should extend this to former Conservative Party leaders, just to be sure.

Other Christian Parties include Vision New Zealand, aka Destiny Church.  They actually wish to acknowledge and respect the Treaty of Waitangi.  There goes the chance of any meaningful relationship between them and the New Conservatives.

There is also the One Party.  Its vision is “to stir the hearts of the nation to arise and pursue righteous change in Aotearoa New Zealand”.

And they have produced this, um, campaign video.

https://vimeo.com/437334163

Co leader Stephanie Harawira is part of the Harawira clan.

The party has a weird combination of policies.  For instance it wants the use of drugs decriminalised and treated as a health issue.  Although it also advocates the use of boot camps for recidivist drug users.

I can’t say that I have seen any media attention paid to One Party.  Perhaps because it has not done something overtly outlandish.  So far.

Of course National has paid a great deal of attention to the Evangelical movement and has some pretty interesting candidates in safe seats.  Its next leader may be a fundamentalist christian.  National will hope that these movements crash and burn because they are probably taking conservative votes and nuking them.

For all christian conservatives can I offer to them one example of a New Zealand leader who implemented the concept of applied christianity, to make sure that all kiwis were looked after and the poor had sufficient to live with dignity.

90 comments on “The Christian Right and the 2020 election ”

  1. JeffB 1

    Fairly sure it was Exclusive Brethren rather than Seven Day Adventist that got Brash in the poo.

    [Right you are. Will amend. I knew I should have checked that! – MS]

  2. Chris T 2

    Think they have failed historically mainly because NZ has become one of the most secular countries in the world.

    That and they all come across as weirdos

    Apart from Dunne who was quite successful really, but then he was kind of normal and an excellent local MP, apart from the bow tie thing.

    • Robert Guyton 2.1

      I was wondering earlier, what Peter Dunne might have to say now about his ol' mates from the National Party; lie down with dogs and all that.

  3. Dennis Frank 3

    The problem is created by the ongoing failure of Jesus to get reborn. Reincarnation is routine for most spirits so we can't really blame Jesus – his father must have put him into quarantine. Probably due to all those reinterpretations of god's will that Jesus told everyone to believe in. So clearly contradictory to the expressed instructions of the deity to his chosen people in the old testament that it could only be categorised as subversion.

    Thus opinions differ amongst christians and the number of christians sects has multiplied thro the past couple of millennia, totalling over 4,000 according to the last count I saw reported online.

    Such biodiversity indicates a healthy ecosystem, but representative democracy was invented to put everyone in a mental strait-jacket, in conformity to a single prescription. Political success requires all contenders to be on the same page for a party to get the numbers, yet the christians refuse to agree on the common ground to make their collective stand upon…

  4. tc 4

    What do the new conservatives have to offer ? Aside from the odious colonial attitude as their billboards arose along State highways 23 and 3 (no doubt more places) in 2019 asking for problems to be solved.

    That entitlement angle amuses me which BT has in spades so there is common ground out there. Pray for togetherness.

  5. bwaghorn 5

    The religious right has got it together, most of them are in the national party.

    • Robert Guyton 5.1

      The Scientologists are here too, fear-mongering about marry-joo-arna!

      • weka 5.1.1

        I did the Scientology induction test in the 80s. Thing that struck me most, apart from the intellectual authoritarianism, was that they all smoked at work. Even back then that was weird. Drugs of choice, nicotine and mind control. Cannabis would be completely antithetical to what they are trying to achieve. Trying to control stoners, lol.

    • Descendant Of Smith 5.2

      Aye. I was going to say the same thing.

      Common bed-fellows church and capitalism – don't like paying taxes, don't like socialism, both prefer the cold heart of charity to welfare systems and both like profiting off the poor – it's why they need them.

      You saw this time and again with National – the sanctimonious moralising, the imposition of mutual obligations on the most vulnerable and the outsourcing of deliberate government created poverty to the religious – whether it be housing, parenting (how are those millions of dollars Youth For Christ parenting courses going?), drug and alcohol rehab and so on. Can't forget PEDA and the Exclusive Brethren nor the Saudi Sheep deal either.

      There is another more American style group in the Act Party.

      Maybe National has become too toxic this election.

  6. RedLogix 6

    The reason why these Christian parties don't succeed is simple, most kiwis understand that religion and politics …. while they can usefully inform each other … should be kept functionally separate.

    And as most of the regulars here will have gleaned over the years, I'm in the pro-religion camp.

    • Incognito 6.1

      How do you achieve this functional separation?

      • RedLogix 6.1.1

        By that I meant functional institutions of the state and religions should remain separate. Because in their current form they are fundamentally incompatible, it results in bad outcomes for both, when they do attempt an alliance.

  7. Ad 7

    If a conservative Christian party had been formed in the late 1960s after Billy Graham did his massive crusades through New Zealand, they would have had a shot. Maybe also in the early 1980s when the mega-churches were really rising.

    Not anymore.

    The Christians who want to form their own political party are tiny and declining at a rate that will make it impossible for them to gain the coherence they had in the mid-1990s.

    One important new reason for their inevitable failure is Donald Trump. Those 37,000 New Zealanders who identified in the last census as "Born again" or "Fundamentalist" now have to contend with the results of the binding of Trump to the U.S. evangelical base. The U.S. evangelical role model is crucial to New Zealand Christianity. It's where they get their songs, their preaching and preacher training, some of their funding, and most of their policy emphasis.

    This immediate problem accelerates the multi-decade framing Hollywood framing of conservative Christians as cruel, ignorant, greedy, and hypocritical.

    It gets harder and harder every year for evangelicals who do good within their churches and still want to put their head above pew-level and engage politically, when their overwhelming cultural models from US evangelical Christianity have so ruined their political horizon.

    In volleyball terms, Hollywood did the set, but Trump was the spike that drove it home.

    • RedLogix 7.1

      It gets harder and harder every year for evangelicals who do good within their churches and still want to put their head above pew-level and engage politically,

      The best test of any religious entity is to ask; does this bring diverse peoples together in unity, or does it tend to divide them? Which direction are they heading in?

      The problem for any religious leader who sincerely wishes to promote the values and means of faith based social cohesion and unity, is that engaging with our present political system immediately forces them in the opposite direction of divisiveness, polarisation and conflict. At present the two systems are incompatible with each other.

      • Ad 7.1.1

        Regrettably there are plenty of religious leaders who became successful by sowing division. It's the purity+rage route.

        Thankfully there are alternatives. Those who stand for office and use their faith as a salt to their life rather than as a moral Glysophophosphate.

        Joe Biden, for example, is a practising Catholic, and that is pretty clear in many of his policy positions. I would expect that he will have a run at making capital punishment illegal in the United States – and he would have a good shot at it with this kind of Supreme Court.

        • RedLogix 7.1.1.1

          Joe Biden, for example, is a practising Catholic, and that is pretty clear in many of his policy positions.

          Yes. I have no problem at all with faith informing and motivating individual political consciousness; it's the moment you start trying to organise into a power centre that all the problems begin.

          • Ad 7.1.1.1.1

            I'd only agree with you on the Christian extremes.

            There's a pretty big and successful tradition of Christian Democrats.

            Germany, Austria, Ireland, Chile, Netherlands, and Switzerland come to mind.

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

            Germany's christian Democrats after WW2 are to me the standout example.

            It can be done well. It hasn't been done well recently.

            • RedLogix 7.1.1.1.1.1

              That's an interesting response and makes a fair point. From your link:

              In practice, Christian democracy is often considered centre-right on cultural, social and moral issues, and is a supporter of social conservatism, but it is considered centre-left "with respect to economic and labor issues, civil rights, and foreign policy" as well as the environment. Specifically with regard to its fiscal stance, Christian democracy advocates a social market economy …

              Which describes my general view quite well, yet I would still see this as ideal driven by individual conscious than institutional alliance. Because when churches fund raise and campaign for specific parties, select candidates approved by the ecclesiastics, and form exclusive institutional links between church and state … I see more potential for harm than good.

              I accept that I probably tend toward the absolutist end of the 'separation of powers' end of the spectrum, but in the long run I also somewhat paradoxically understand that if both religion and politics were so transformed as to serve the entire human race, then maybe a new paradigm might emerge.

              Something that might constructively combine the values domain of faith, with the interests based negotiation of politics. But we aren't there yet.

    • Anne 7.2

      I went to one of those Billy Graham Rallies as a teenager. Maybe my cynical antennae was already activated at such an early age, but I was unimpressed. I walked out at the way he was playing with the emotions of the crowd. My then friends who were fully on board at the time were not happy with me.

      • weka 7.2.1

        Same. Not Billy Graham but one of the ones with rock music in the 80s. Gave me the creeps. I had friends that went born again for a while. I went to one baptism service and again the whole emotional manipulation stuff set off major red flags. In my early 20s I went and did the Scientology level entry quiz (they were proselytising on the street and playing to a completely different audience (philosophy and intelligence rather than emotion) but same shit, different garb. Years later a friend became born again and it still blows my mind how a person can abandon whole belief and thought systems so quickly, in exchange for spiritual relief. Scary. Fortunately born again only lasts a few years for many.

        • Ad 7.2.1.1

          It is depressing the number of my teenage years were spent being marinated in that stuff.

          Very few young people now buy in to it.

        • RedLogix 7.2.1.2

          Years later a friend became born again and it still blows my mind how a person can abandon whole belief and thought systems so quickly, in exchange for spiritual relief.

          The impetus to seek the transcendent is universal. It may be latent at any point in time, but we all have the capacity for it.

          But it's also an aspect of human nature that is easily exploited.

          • Drowsy M. Kram 7.2.1.2.1

            We all have the capacity for a great many things. For myself, no system of religious belief has made a convincing case for seeking 'the transcendent, and tbh I’m not looking. Whereas a focus on studying the natural world has been truly rewarding (challenging/frustrating/fun), and that’s all I need or want. "I'll do what I can, as long as I can."

            • RedLogix 7.2.1.2.1.1

              I carefully didn't specify that the only way to attempt to fulfill the desire for transcendence was through religion.

              But I will maintain the wish to belong, to connect with something meaningful beyond our own limited consciousness is universal.

              • Drowsy M. Kram

                Maybe you know me better than I know myself, although you’d not be the first person to believe that wink

                Personally I’d prefer an evidence-based approach to determining the validity of opinions on the universality of particular human desires and wishes.

                • RedLogix

                  Maybe Anil Seth's take on it will be of interest to you.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram

                    Thanks RL – consciousness is amazing, but it’s hardly rare. Even if nearly 8,000,000,000 of us were each hallucinating our individual conscious realities, I believe I'd prefer my own hallucinations to yours.

                    Maybe I'm hallucinating a lack of personal "impetus to seek the transcedent", and that impetus really is (as you hallucinate) universal. Tbh, I don't understand why you believe it is universal ('transcedence transference' perhaps?), any more than I understand religious belief.

                    So much of life remains a mystery. Time (another hallucination?) will tell, eh wink

              • Andre

                … the wish to belong, to connect with something meaningful beyond our own limited consciousness is universal.

                Nope. Not feelin' it.

                I'm with what DMK said.

            • greywarshark 7.2.1.2.1.2

              If we adopt a few simple mores from Jesus' words that would go a long way to inform a person and political party of the way to go.

              'Love one another as I have loved you' goes a long way to feeding one's own soul and interacting with those of others. But I don't see it leading to soppy sentimentality or forgiving others of bad crimes as a given, absolving them of bad behaviours or excusing the effect of nature and genes, or the lack of nurture.

              It basically would mean understanding others, and perhaps hating the vicious side of them but knowing that their childhood has taught them bad attitudes and given bad role models. So they may never be able to be trusted and locking them in jail, keeping them safe and others safe from them might be the fairest thing. So that is Trump and his phalanx of poxy politicians, profiteering pedlars and prissy preachers dealt with!

          • Descendant Of Smith 7.2.1.2.2

            I tend to think we confuse the way we know now the brain functions with something of a mysterious spiritual event.

            I think Damasio has it pretty right when he says the sense of self developed in the modern part of the brain and that when you shut down this part of the brain (through, prayer, meditation, chanting, etc) you are left with the primitive part of the brain functioning which has no sense of self and makes you feel like you are at one with nature.

            It made sense once that it was mysterious – it doesn't now. It is addictive which is why people go searching for it – to lose oneself. Ultimately though it is chemical reactions. No more, no less.

            • RedLogix 7.2.1.2.2.1

              Interesting, but losing oneself in prayer, meditation, chanting …. trance states if you will, is something I'm quite familiar with and reasonably competent at. But I've never seen this as central to the act of faith, rather I've always treated it as a fundamentally rational, self-aware act.

              I have had a number of peak experiences such as you describe. Perhaps the most unexpected happened on Mt Luxmore near Te Anau. I had been on my own for a few days (this was long before it became the now very popular Kepler Track) and I'd spent an hour or so exploring the small limestone caves near the hut. When I emerged it was a typically windy day and I sheltered in a bed of tussocks, out of the cold and yet in the sun. And with no warning it happened for maybe 4 – 5 minutes, that expansive sense of connection and awareness that felt as if it encompassed the universal.

              From what I understand now it was fairly typical of such experiences, but it had nothing to do with any preparation or induced trance state. It was totally spontaneous and I was completely aware of myself at all times. And while I appreciated it, I've never seen it as proof of anything, nor relevant to faith in of itself.

              However there is now lots of good evidence that similar experiences (and there are a host of ways to induce them) can be a form of pre-conditioning that expand the capacity of the adult mind to connect to the non-material realities more efficiently. Writing off this now large body of evidence as just 'chemistry' may serve well to defend the materialist world view, but it's not very adventurous devil.

    • swordfish 7.3

      If a conservative Christian party had been formed in the late 1960s after Billy Graham did his massive crusades through New Zealand, they would have had a shot. Maybe also in the early 1980s when the mega-churches were really rising.

      Under FPP ? … I doubt it.

      • Ad 7.3.1

        They could have taken out the electorate-equivalent area of the Owairaka/Mt Roskill seat in the late 1980s if they'd managed to get the sitting member to switch.

    • Draco T Bastard 7.4

      This immediate problem accelerates the multi-decade framing Hollywood framing of conservative Christians as cruel, ignorant, greedy, and hypocritical.

      I'm pretty sure that that doesn't require Hollywood framing.

      It gets harder and harder every year for evangelicals who do good within their churches and still want to put their head above pew-level and engage politically, when their overwhelming cultural models from US evangelical Christianity have so ruined their political horizon.

      Then, perhaps, they need to accept that their church has moved away from them.

  8. Nic181 8

    The religious right are in retreat. I went Pastafarian a few years ago All hail his noodley appendages!

    • Draco T Bastard 8.1

      Stir fry bacon and veges until cooked as you prefer them and then add:

      Pasta Sauce

      I prefer Carbonara but other pasta sauces also work.

  9. millsy 9

    The Christian Right — the *real* cancel culture.

    As I commented in another post, JK Rowling was nowhere when they were pulling her books from school library shelves in 1990's/2000's, in some cases burning them. Now because everyone has a bee in their bonnet about a few transwomen, she signs a stupid letter.

    We need to take the same sort of attudes to religion that the Russians did in the (19)20's, the Mexicans and Spanish in the 30's, the Soviets in the '50s and the Chinese in the 60's and 70's. Complete eradication.

    • Incognito 9.1

      Don’t let your judgement get in the way of your rant.

      • swordfish 9.1.1

        We need to take the same sort of attudes to religion that the Russians did in the (19)20’s, the Mexicans and Spanish in the 30’s, the Soviets in the ’50s and the Chinese in the 60’s and 70’s. Complete eradication.

        Crucifixion perhaps ?

        Nail 'em up !!!, nail 'em up, I say !!!, Nail some sense into them !!!
        (Old Geezer hanging upside down in dungeon – Life of Brian)

    • greywarshark 9.2

      A few transwomen trying to deny women the right to their own gender, their own being and that's nothing and JK Rowling is condemned for speaking up? Her stories were about finding one's true strong self and knowing what friendship is and who to trust and putting oneself at risk for friends.

      Women in general, have been kind to men who wanted to change sex, but when it gets turned into a fashion with a willingness by males to swamp the spaces that women feel safe in, compete in sport against them, then it does become a matter of defining your own space and defending it. It is similarly seen in the invasion of footpaths with fast moving, mostly males, rushing heedlessly along – the entitlement machine is working overtime these days.

  10. mary_a 10

    What's with the raised finger of the ONE PARTY Aotearoa? Is it recommending some members of NZ society have a medical check?

    Seems this coming election has attracted quite a coterie of right wing God botherers.

  11. swordfish 11

    New Zealand has always been a relatively secular Country.

    (despite claims by some commentators to the contrary … ie that we were highly religious up until the 1960s)

    Regular Church-going, for instance, was always confined to a minority … it reached its apex toward the end of the 19C (when around 40% were regular attenders) then declined rapidly to less than 20% by the late 1920s (even lower in the larger cities, among men, among the working-classes & among people who were nominally Anglican or Presbyterian).

    Not many people were outright Atheists (although certainly my grandparents – & quite a few other Socialists – were) but I'd say the majority of the population were certainly non-religious, essentially disinterested in religion albeit without overtly rejecting it … only turning up to Church for Weddings & Funerals … and remaining more than a little sceptical of the highly religious.

    Women in rural, small town & provincial city areas were, to some extent, an exception … as were Roman Catholics & the dissenting Protestant denominations (but again only partial exceptions & still experiencing decline).

  12. Draco T Bastard 12

    One thing I have never understood is why the religious right have not been able to get its act together and achieve a proper Parliamentary presence.

    Genetic memories of living in a theocracy?

    The decades long right-wing attack on the state? After all, a religion can only be maintained through state force.

    Or, maybe, its because people are becoming better educated and are starting to pick up on the BS that is religion?

    Our so-called 'God's own' country is fast becoming anything but.

    A century ago New Zealand was one of most religious places on the planet, with the great majority of Kiwis, Pākehā and Māori alike, believing in some form of Christianity.

    Fast forward a few generations and not only Christianity, but belief in any form of religion, has dissipated to the point where almost half of all Kiwis don't associate with any religious belief at all.

    With religion declining throughout the state its highly unlikely that any sort of religious party will ever get anywhere.

    • Incognito 12.1

      You may wish to elaborate on the education-religion dichotomy or is it just your belief that better education rules out or excludes religion? I detected a hint of bias in your comment; maybe you and Dennis should have a tête-à-tête.

      Similarly, the State-religion symbiosis seems to refer to organised religion rather than people’s individual religious beliefs.

      • Draco T Bastard 12.1.1

        You may wish to elaborate on the education-religion dichotomy or is it just your belief that better education rules out or excludes religion?

        Better education tends to highlight the hypocrisy that is the basis of religious grouping.

        Similarly, the State-religion symbiosis seems to refer to organised religion rather than people’s individual religious beliefs.

        A religion is always organised – usually to put a few at the top and in control of the many. People's own spiritual beliefs are just that – their own and thus do not constitute the religious movement that would be required for a political party to form and gain power.

        • Incognito 12.1.1.1

          Hypocrisy is the basis of religious grouping!? Makes no sense to me.

          As to religion, it is clear we’re talking about two different things here, or possibly three: a person’s individual religious beliefs – these may be poorly or not articulated at all, organised religion to congregate and worship together with other like-minded, and religious movements. The State has no role in the first, which was my point.

    • Visubversa 12.2

      Christians have never managed to agree with each other, let alone anyone else. Since the first Holy Roman Emperor" listened to his batty old mother who claimed to have found the "true cross", and declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in 313 ACE it has been all downhill from there. 100 years later, Rome was in ruins and extremist Paulist Christianity ushered in the Dark and Dirty ages. The minute they got any secular power they started persecuting each other with gusto. The pages of history are littered with the charred corpses of the "wrong kind" of Christian. Excellent reasons for keeping their greasy fingers off any of the levers of government.

      • Drowsy M. Kram 12.2.1

        Splitters!

      • Incognito 12.2.2

        Christians have never managed to agree with each other, let alone anyone else.

        A distinctly human trait and not unique to Christians or religious people. Replace “Christians’ with “Lefties”, for example, and you have another truism.

  13. Tiger Mountain 13

    We have separation of church and state for very good reasons in New Zealand. Religious adherents have democratic rights of freedom of speech, assembly and association like the rest of us. I would prefer to keep them well away from Govt., particularly due to their propensity for oppressing women, and indoctrinating children before they are mature enough to have formed their own world view.

    But religious nutters are persistent e.g. despite the option of integrated schools since Norm Kirk’s time, they do try and influence school curriculums from time to time. If they must stick their beaks into secular politics they will at least likely draw votes from National rather than Labour/Green.

    I still recall the bloody Brethren, who advise their members not to vote, bankrolling a nationwide leaflet drop attempting to influence the outcome of a general election, Mr Brash got caught with his tweeds down again on that.

  14. roblogic 14

    Hi MickeySavage, another one recently popped up called the NZ Public Party.

    https://nzpublicparty.org.nz/what-we-stand-for

    [Link fixed]

    • ianmac 14.1

      Won't open roblogic.

      • Incognito 14.1.1

        Link fixed.

        • ianmac 14.1.1.1

          Thanks. But do we have a Constitution to rewrite?

          • Incognito 14.1.1.1.1

            No, we don’t have to, they will do it for us. It’s a shitty job, but somebody’s got to do it and they obviously have the mandate, capacity, and capability to do it. Parliament can debate and vote on it, which is just a formality (AKA rubberstamping). It’ll be done by lunch time.

            • Descendant Of Smith 14.1.1.1.1.1

              Sigh!

              http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/local-news/20200708/global-plandemic/

              "Labour "communists" Jacinda Ardern and Ashley Bloomfield are complicit in a global agenda of state control that involves construction of the coronavirus “plandemic”.

              New Zealand Public Party founder and lay minister Billy Te Kahika made that claim to a packed room at Waikanae Surf Life Saving Club on Saturday night.

              The New Zealand Public Party was launched only three weeks earlier in response to injustice and tyranny hurled upon the New Zealand people by the Labour/NZ First/Green government, according to the party's website.

              “Reclaim New Zealand for the people is the main goal and message.”

              Introduced at Saturday's meeting as the chosen leader for the people of Aotearoa, Mr Te Kahika presented a dystopian, deep-state vision of the future under Prime Minister Ardern's Government.

              He talked about the bio-weaponisation of coronavirus, the purpose of the conspiracy behind the pandemic, the hoax over its virulence, the web of conspirators and how World Health Organisation (WHO) players, 5G and GMO (genetically modified organisms) were part of the agenda to exercise state control over people/mankind.

              He connected passages from Revelations, the apocalyptic text in the New Testament, to the global plan to put everyone into a global unit, he said.

              “We know New Zealand is still enduring the greatest disaster to hit Aotearoa,” said Mr Te Kahika."

              • Descendant Of Smith

                Though he won't be here much longer apparently.

                Hot off my spam filter:

                "A known international hitman has arrived in New Zealand, bypassed quarantine and flown to Christchurch to Billy's event. He, the hitman, has left Christchurch after being identified now and gone to that well known CIA base called Queenstown."

                After getting scared about being known about he has left NZ so now Billy is fundraising for a security team to protect himself and his family.

                I just really really dislike people taking advantage of vulnerable people. As someone who has family working with vulnerable people some are wanting to give money and go without. Had this problem with Destiny Church til the locals booted them out.

                It is so frustrating to work through this again with people who find it difficult to sort out truth from not-truth but balancing that with their right to believe what they wish.

                Anyway should be an exciting new bulletin tonight!

  15. McFlock 15

    It's a bit unfair conflating Christian parties with the religious right. I know lots of solid left, even far left, Christians. And I believe the Fabian Society has roots more in Christianity than Marxism.

    These little parties are mostly driven by ego of an individual or two, at least one I believe is an outright fraudulent church (I don't believe the leader belives a single word that he preaches), and others are different melanges of the standard ultra-right paranoia – diversity is bad, social decay is inevitable unless X, punishment rather than rehabilitation.

    The worry isn't that they'll learn to cooperate or unite. My worry is that one of them will get a leader who knows how to appear vaguely normal to the rest of the damned country.

  16. ianmac 16

    Peter Dunne writes a very ant Government anti Labour column for Newsroom. Sentences well written but it makes me ill to read his diatribes aimed at demolishing the Government.

    And what did Dunne ever do for us? Do not try to answer that!

    • Sabine 16.1

      i guess he did very little other then get himself paid one nice pay cheque including perks an. And why would he have dunne so? He was never held to a higher standard by anyone.

    • Incognito 16.2

      Nah, just harmless reckons and common sense. He’s not a deep thinker that Dunne.

    • Gabby 16.3

      Daylight fucking Saving in the winter. Thanks heaps, Dunger.

    • Just Is 16.4

      Peter Dunne was like the fat boy in the rugby team, just making up numbers.

  17. Sabine 17

    there are billboards up in farming country here in middle nz by a party called 'new conservatives'.

  18. DS 18

    A hundred years ago, the Labour Party was accused of being extreme. Here's the response from Harry Holland, who preceded Savage as leader…

    “What man,” asked Mr. Holland, “is worth while if he is not an extremist? Would Christ ever have gone to the Cross if He had not been an extremist? Would the primitive Christians, especially during the first three centuries of Christian history, ever have been called upon to endure what they endured if they had not been extremists? Would the Christians have made Christianity the power it eventually became if they had not been extremists? Who would object to a man being extremely honest?”

    The roots of the New Zealand (and British) Labour Parties were drenched in Christian Socialism.

    • greywarshark 18.1

      I think that the sort of Christian expression that people are concerned about in our politics is that it attracts power hungry people who want to advance themselves and care little for ordinary citizens not connected with their belief. For instance a few years ago the Exclusive Brethren all had a happy prayer about the positive outcome of a tax case.

      Then there is the sort of religion that produces Hopeful Christian and his band of look-alike Amish cultists, and the way that he and others in such can't help themselves from being dominated by sexuality which is both enticing and subject to strong negative controls that only the leaders can review.

      Then there are the conservative Catholics who also have strong negative attitudes to sexuality and who are probably at the root of much nastiness at the social welfare level, 'You sleazy women with no morals etc'. Plus they believe in male dictatorship over families, so that single women parents have been made to cohabit or interact with the man who fertilised them during a brief sexual attraction. Which would be less immoral than that of Grace Mullane, whose behaviour was so risky, virtually a sex-tourist and became the subject of a sea of emotion and handbag sales as memorials even in banks for some reason.

      The Catholic attitude may go to extremes as shown in the true story film The Magdalene Sisters. https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/2003/10-03/273351__magdalene_sisters__tells_sad__.html

      Then there are the Exclusive Brethren who hide their distaste and dislike of people outside their cult, and run successful businesses but are vengeful of anyone who crosses them. Their brazen leader suggested that a deserter from the group who had broken away from family and was depressed, should think about taking rat poison. People who were outsiders can be tolerated and cult members should interact and get what they wanted, and leave the rest.

      The Prosperity Churches are business enterprises that use morality and intimacy to form an efficient group of similar people with ambitious social mobility aims, which is practical and they can operate with little or no tax on any church enterprise.

      Then there are the Scientologists. People today are likely to be drawn to religious cults in opposition to the lack of humanity from a society drawn to machines and technology, no education in philosophy and little thought of the core of our minds and souls. And then the way that we who have replaced those with materialism and place humanity and its emotional needs as of no consequence as demonstrated by the Gang of Four (or Fish and Chip Brigade) with another sort of religious fervour.

      The Fish and Chip Brigade was a humorous name given to four leading members of the New Zealand Labour Party who became senior members in the Fourth Labour Government (1984–1990). The politicians in the brigade were future Prime Ministers David Lange and Mike Moore, future Minister of Finance Roger Douglas, and future Minister of Health and Local Government Dr. Michael Bassett. Future Minister for State Owned Enterprises Richard Prebble…
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_and_Chip_Brigade

  19. sumsuch 19

    Christians make a leap of faith as part of their theology. Good way of leading life from my cautious experience. But then the proof relies on the fruits 'by which you shall know it'. All the silly arse Christian parties and politicians are a complete disproval. The Cretans don't understand my way of understanding them so they carry on with their warm urine comfort despite all.

  20. Brendan 20

    I am a Christian. And I'm not voting for any of these christian parties.

    Am I any less christian because I don't vote for them – no. They don't own my vote. (PS Nor does Labour or National own my vote either).

    In fact Christian politics puts me off them. I don't want anything to do with them.

    However for those who support the christian parties, they actually help the left, because a good chunk of the 'christian vote' would vote National. but since they get under 5% the votes don't count.

  21. Leighton 21

    The motley crew comprising the New Conservatives make Colin Craig look normal.

  22. observer 22

    Co-ordinated and very tidy "vandalism" … hmmm.

    Angry lefties don't tend to do things so neatly and carefully. More likely to add a moustache and spray some swear words. Plus, nobody knows or cares who this guy is anyway.

    Still, useful headline for the New Conservatives, victims getting publicity. Top work by their undercover team!

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • At a glance – Does CO2 always correlate with temperature?
    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 ...
    5 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    8 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    8 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    8 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    8 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    9 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    10 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    11 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    14 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    14 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    16 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    17 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    19 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T11:30:10+00:00