The Dummies’ Guide to National’s wage policy

Written By: - Date published: 12:35 pm, February 14th, 2008 - 68 comments
Categories: john key, national, workers' rights - Tags: , , ,

I never really understood how National planned to make wages grow because every time our man John Key is asked about our wage-gap with Australia he starts talking about cutting taxes. Here’s a recent example from Morning Report:

Key: Firstly we will raise wages. I mean, after-tax wages will be rising under a National government.

Geoff: How will you do that?

Key: We’ll cut taxes for a start-off…

Geoff: So that’s not raising wages that’s cutting taxes, that’s different.

And like Geoff, I thought wage rises and tax cuts were different too. Then I came across this on youtube:

And I realised! John Key is an underpants gnome:

Stage one: Cut taxes

Stage two: ?

Stages three: Higher wages!

And to think I didn’t believe John had any wage policies. Sorry John.

68 comments on “The Dummies’ Guide to National’s wage policy ”

  1. Camryn 1

    That’s pretty funny. I loved that episode.

    I think he doesn’t (and shouldn’t) give a shit about increasing wages, but feels he can’t say it.

    I’d rather he grew the economy. It won’t increase wages as quickly and it’d certainly never reduce income disparity, but it’d give us all a much larger economy to support our needs in the long term.

    Every policy that hinders growth to achieve wage growth and other social objectives now costs us in the long run. It’s a lot like saving. If we could just defer cashing in until we’ve got a bigger principle, we’d be much better off.

    Problem is, we keep on electing National when there’s a recession instead of when they could run the economy hot on the back of good conditions, and voting Labour in when the going’s already good and we don’t need more social focus.

    We relax when the going is good instead of making hay, and then try to implement growth policies when conditions are bad. As a nation, we’re horrible at electing the right party at the right time.

  2. Camryn 2

    It won’t increase wages as quickly *in the short term*, I mean to say. Woops. Long term, though, better off for all.

  3. BeShakey 3

    Interesting second post Camryn. I thought it was internally consistent, although I disagreed as policy. Your position seemed to be that we should focus on growing the economy, without concern to where the benefits of that might lie. Unless you buy into trickle down theory, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to think that this would lead to wage increases for low (or maybe even middle) income earners.

  4. The Double Standard 4

    Yeah Bill, I guess you think WFF is a tax cut as well? No wonder you need a dummies guide. Tell me, what is the difference to the worker between Case 2 and Case 3?

    Case 1:
    Weekly income: $1000
    Weekly tax: $350
    Weekly after-tax: $650

    Case 2:
    Weekly income: $1000
    Weekly tax: $300
    Weekly after-tax: $700

    Case 3:
    Weekly income: $1100
    Weekly tax: $400
    Weekly after-tax: $700

    BTW “for a start” Did you miss that?

  5. Daveo 5

    TDS- appreciate the National research unit figures but they don’t relate to the topic of discussion. How does cutting taxes lift wages?

  6. Aj 6

    He also state Nat tax cuts would mean an average of $45 in the hand to workers. Of course these will be heavily weighted to high incomes so bugger all will be left for people on less than the average wage…

  7. The Double Standard 7

    Daveo – obviously you need the Dummies guide to the Dummies guide.

    Here’s a question for you – if tax cuts don’t improve workers income, why is Cullen offering them?

  8. Daveo 8

    That’s not the question TDS. Tax cuts and wage rises aren’t the same thing, yet John Key said he’d lift wages by cutting taxes – how does that make any sense? They’re two completely different things.

    There’s something else I’ve been thinking. If you’re going to have year on year tax cuts instead of wage increases how is that sustainable? At what point do you stop and say “We’ve looted the state and we’re out of money. Sorry everyone”?

  9. Jeez TDS – you’re a bit grumpy today bro, what’s the matter? Did you get told off about yesterday’s poor performance? Better luck today mate – by the look of this poor attempt at misdirection you’re gonna need it.

  10. The Double Standard 10

    Daveo – Why don’t you ask your bro’s over a Labor?

    Labor’s plan includes the goal over 6 years, by 2013-14, of flattening Australia’s income tax system by reducing the number of personal income tax rates from four to three with a personal income tax scale of 15 per cent, 30 per cent and 40 per cent.

    This plan will deliver assistance to working families under financial pressure and help prepare Australia for its future economic challenges.

    This is a course of action for Australia’s long-term national interest rather than a short term political decision by a government that has had 11 and a half years to fundamentally reform the tax system

    http://www.alp.org.au/media/1007/msloo181.php

  11. Ex Labour Voter 11

    The answer is very simple.

    Do after-tax pay packets rise, or do they not, if taxes are cut?

    Yes they do. Cutting tax raises workers’ disposable incomes.

  12. The Double Standard 12

    Oh, and you might like to take a look at this, although I’m not sure that it is dumbed down enough for you:

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/author/story.cfm?a_id=13&objectid=10491555&pnum=0

    I guess Cullen’s wage policy is to jawbone employers?

  13. Daveo 13

    TDS- if this is the best the National research unit has to throw at The Standard then maybe I’ve overestimated you guys. I guess they only put their trainee staffers on the blogs.

    I’ve asked you a simple question- how does cutting taxes increase wages? Quoting me Australian Labor Party policy is a good attempt at misdirection but sadly it’s not an answer.

  14. Ha! – You have your mistake pointed out to you and you make it again (but with a quote this time!) and with spelling mistakes! Jeez TDS you’re really off your game mate. I can hear your KPIs falling from here…

  15. The Double Standard 15

    Yawn. OK Mickey, you have earned your reply-of-the-day.

    Here’s a little test for you – which of my cases above would you prefer, 1, 2, or 3.

    Lets see if that is simple enough for you? And maybe you could get your sock-puppet Daveo to answer as well. Bonus points are available if you give different answers.

  16. Um TDS – I hear you blow goats. What does it taste like? (I figure we’re commenting off thread now…)

  17. Tane 17

    Sod, try to settle down eh? Yes, I know Double’s a humorless attack troll but try not to bring down the tone too much.

  18. The Double Standard 18

    IB: I guess you stopped listening to the clip after you got to your “National-bad” hook. How about quoting the rest of it as well, or doesn’t that help your partisan negative focus on Key?

    Key “It is after tax wages that allows people to save for a deposit or pay for their mortgage. If we were the government today and our tax policy had been rolled out New Zealanders would be $45 a week better off on average. ”

    Geoff “So they’d have the money in their pocket and thus be able to buy a house”

    Key “Well either save for it or pay their mortgage. Thats one element. Secondly there are lots of other things around raising wages in relation to productivity growth. I mean there is all sorts of things you can do ranging from education to unlocking bottlenecks of infrastructure, cutting compliance costs and the like. So I’m not arguing solely taxes, thats one aspect. I’m simply saying raising wages is a very important focus of a National government”

  19. Ex Labour Voter 19

    Why don’t you answer the question, Daveo? Does cutting taxes increase after-tax incomes?

  20. [Deleted. This is your last warning.]

  21. Ex Labour Voter 21

    Seems to me Robinsodo does get a lot of last and final warnings, doesn’t he?

  22. Hey ELV/TDS. Yeah. Once.

  23. Policy Parrot 23

    TDS – The Rudd government has just announced it will only implement stage 1 of the proposed tax cuts, and put the rest conditional to global economic conditions, and the upper income tax reductions on hiatus to focus on building up higher surpluses (which they will not call surpluses in the sense as the money is allocated as part of the year’s official spending) reserves to cope with the likely end of the mining boom and the increasing superannuation burden?

    So will the Libs call this the Swann fund?

    http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23211626-2702,00.html

  24. The Double Standard 24

    Look, it is obvious to most but the most die-hard lefties that, in the short term, a tax cut is as good as a wage rise, as Key says. More in-the-pocket income for mortgages, or school fees, or plasma TV’s.

    Increasing base wages does not have a simple solution, but many are asking themselves whether they feel better off after 9 years of Teh Party’s policies, and increasingly, the answer is a big fat no.

    (and please keep you stats links under your hats – as the monkey economics link shows, we are not entirely rational, and waving a pretty graph on ‘median incomes’ isn’t likely to win you votes)

  25. The Double Standard 25

    PP – does that make Rudd like Cullen then – promise then disappoint? Or did he put sufficient weasel word in his election campaign?

    Perhaps Labor politicians world-wide can’t be trusted to deliver promised tax cuts? I had thought that Key was drawing a fairly long bow with that theme, but maybe not?

    And isn’t it remarkable that in Australia tax cuts will ease inflationary pressure?

    “Treasurer Wayne Swan today introduced bills for tax cuts which he says will help boost workplace participation and ease the inflationary pressure from a full labour market.

  26. Daveo 26

    But still no actual answers TDS?

    Just “lots of other things around raising wages in relation to productivity growth… ranging from education to unlocking bottlenecks of infrastructure, cutting compliance costs and the like.”

    Sounds a lot like trickle down to me – rely heavily on tax cuts and promise some vague action on infrastructure and ‘compliance costs’.

    If I was earning $12 an hour I’d have very little faith in that. So still nothing concrete from John Key on wages.

  27. Daveo 27

    many are asking themselves whether they feel better off after 9 years of Teh Party’s policies, and increasingly, the answer is a big fat no.

    (and please keep you stats links under your hats – as the monkey economics link shows, we are not entirely rational, and waving a pretty graph on ‘median incomes’ isn’t likely to win you votes)

    So now you’re admitting National is trading on perception rather than reality?

  28. Ex Labour Voter 28

    Just two days ago robinsod gets warned twice in one post and has his comment deleted because it’s so offensive and now he’s got a last warning. One standard for robinsod and one standard for everybody else?

    [lprent:
    not really, it is just that the ‘sod is very very good at walking close to the line.
    If you read our Policy page, you will find that the moderators prefer not to ban.
    I’m more of the BOFH line of thinking myself.]

  29. The Double Standard 29

    Daveo – how about your answer to the question above?

    http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=1103#comment-18127

  30. Daveo 30

    You mean your figures TDS? It depends on what the effect would be on crown accounts. I don’t want low taxes if it means fewer public services, that’s a recipe for inequality and social deprivation. What I want is higher wages and concrete policies to close the wage gap with Australia. John Key has no answers for either.

  31. Michele Cabiling 31

    Cullen needs to explain why tax cuts are inflationary and Liarbour retaining and spending the same money itself isn’t.

    As for those who wank on about “tax cuts for the rich” it’s their money anyway. If you haven’t paid much tax, you don’t get much of a tax cut. That’s not rocket science.

    Tax cuts effectively increase wages by leaving more after-tax income in workers’ pay packets.

    Tax cuts can be applied in three ways, each of which grows the economy in real terms:

    [1] spent — which increases the demand for goods and services, leading to more employment;

    [2] invested which leads to economic growth; and

    [3] saved — which means the banks lend the money out to businesses for investment which leads to econcomic growth.

    Working For Families is simply taking a dollar off someone, churning it through an unnecessary state bureaucracy that’s nothing but a deadweight on the economy, then giving them back seventy cents.

    Where’s the logic in that — other than to underscore to New Zealanders that they’re serfs on Auntie Helengrad’s plantation.

  32. Of course they are bro – they got nothing else (a bit like our mate TDS).

    So ah TDS – let’s say you’re on about $41,000 (about the average wage) and your total tax paid on that is about 26% (before any WFF rebates).

    You do a tax cut for the first year (let’s say 5% – cos that’s a pretty good but not excessive rise) and that counters the 3.5% inflation you’ve had to deal with (mostly because of petrol prices) and gives you a little more in your pocket.

    Anyway the next year rolls around and you’re now paying 21% in total tax but inflation’s gone up another 3%. So you get a 3% tax cut (‘cos you know that’s how we raise incomes around here). That’s all good and now you’re paying 18% in total tax.

    But then year three and OMG the rate of inflation rockets (probably because of all the money flowing into the economy). It’s at five yeas that’s right 5! percent. We’re all on the road to poverty now if we don’t raise incomes. I know we’ll cut taxes again. Let’s say 5% again just to make sure.

    Ahhhhhh that’s better… You’re only paying 13% in total tax now… But hold on a minute, there’s no money for hospitals and your kids’ school fees are outta control! What you need to offset these costs is another “income rise”…

    You’re a moron TDS and so is anyone else that claims Tax cuts are a sustainable way to raise incomes.

  33. BeShakey 33

    Michele – there has been discussion previously on the questions of tax as theft, tax cuts for the rich etc. Without wanting to rehash too much, the idea that people with lots of money should keep it, and tough on anyone else, is pretty unattractive to people across most of the political spectrum.

    In terms of your claim that tax cuts will necessarily grow the economy – you seem to be assuming a closed economy, in NZ it’s likely that a portion of any tax cuts will go overseas, for instance in overseas investments, as profits for foreign companies etc. Given you seem to be promoting a fairly libertarian approach, it’s likely that in your preferred system a very significant portion of the cuts would go overseas.

  34. Just two days ago robinsod gets warned twice in one post and has his comment deleted because it’s so offensive and now he’s got a last warning

    Yeah bro and Burt repeatedly trolls, gets warned, has comments deleted and is warned again, finally gets banned and is then let back on site early. Jeez I tell yah those lefties get all the sweet treatment. Why don’t you take your Faux outrage somewhere else ELV? It’s getting dull here…

  35. Michele Cabiling 35

    BeShakey wrote:

    “the idea that people with lots of money should keep it, and tough on anyone else, is pretty unattractive to people across most of the political spectrum.”

    Really? Have you talked to them all?

    It’s only attractive to those who assume a God-given right to plunder others — whether for their own benefit — or so that they can spend other people’s money as their entrance fee to “Club Virtue.”

    I’ve got an idea … how about we change the tax system so that those professing all this collectivist concern for their fellow man can sign up to pay whatever tax rate they wish above a basic 10 percent.

    Imagine the bragging rights in leftard circles of being able to say “I only have to pay ten percent tax, but I choose to pay 50 percent.” Another leftard enters the pissing contest: “That’s nothing! I only have to pay ten percent tax, but I choose to pay …”

    Of course, there would soon be those claiming to pay more than 100 percent of their annual income in tax, but then we’d all know who was stealing from their fellow citizens in order to get that warm glow.

  36. And once again Michele shows she has no understanding of what a society does – does that make her a sociopath?

    Honestly ‘chele – I reckon you and the rest of the world’s libertarians should chip in and buy an island together and then turn it into a stateless paradise. At least you’d stop bothering us…

  37. dave 37

    If I had a tax cut my income would effectivly reduce. See if Robinsod can work that one out. Just like he says noone on 70K can buy a house these days.

    Gee this guy is a plain idiot, really.

  38. Hey dave – I know plety of folk on that kind of wicket (combined income – remember?) and higher that can’t afford a house. And if you can’t read my comment about tax properly I’d suggest you are even more retarded than I picked you for. Can’t you got live on ‘chele’s island or something? You could be piggy…

  39. From Tane’s link:

    “libertarianism,’ that peculiarly American philosophy of venal petty-bourgeois dissidence.

    Gold!

  40. Michele Cabiling 41

    Robinsodomite Porton wrote:

    “Honestly ‘chele – I reckon you and the rest of the world’s libertarians should chip in and buy an island together and then turn it into a stateless paradise. At least you’d stop bothering us …”

    Nah, it would mean you and your ilk would stop bothering us … at least insofar as you’d no longer be feeling in my pocket for my wallet (although with a pervert like you I couldn’t be sure it was just my wallet you were after).

    After a few years we’d have to build a barbed wire fence to keep out the millions of refugees from state socialism clamouring to get in there.

  41. dave 42

    people who are on 70K and cant afford a house of say 300 000 dont know how to budget and live within their means.

    OIve read your tax comment and really its pathetic. 5-3.5 is 2.5 but 2.5 is not what you have left. Because of other taxes.

    captcha kong moron.. heh

  42. Leftie 43

    My understanding is the argument is about hourly earnings between us and Australia.
    When I am talking to friends/family/workmates about employment, the conversation usually goes something like “In my (NZ)supermarket job I am earning $11.40 per hour. I know someone that did exactly the same work in Australia, they started on $17 per hour”.
    Nobody talks about taxes, they want to know what the starting rate in a job is.

    National has zero answers to this particular problem.

  43. Shit ‘chele – I’m well in the top tax bracket. I take it you use public roads and other public facilities? I guess that means your hand is in my pocket you filthy bludger. In fact it’s my taxes and my long history of paying taxes that gives you the ability to spout your bullshit in comfort and security. Perhaps you could head to the sudan – I hear they don’t pay taxes there…

    Oh and don’t worry about me fancying you ‘chele, I only date good-looking women.

  44. people who are on 70K and cant afford a house of say 300 000 dont know how to budget and live within their means.

    OIve read your tax comment and really its pathetic. 5-3.5 is 2.5 but 2.5 is not what you have left. Because of other taxes.

    Firstly Mike, you find me a decent three bedroom house in Auckland for $300,000 and I’ll buy it right now.

    Secondly Mike, what other taxes? and if there are other taxes then does that mean we need to cut income tax even more to ensure people stay ahead? And then run the tax base down faster??? It’s like you’re going all out to prove my argument…

  45. Michele Cabiling 46

    Robinsodomite Porton wrote: “Oh and don’t worry about me fancying you ‘chele, I only date good-looking women.”

    The best that money can buy, right?

  46. Well no, but I’m sure they would have a higher market value than you do if we’re gonna quantify stuff…

  47. Michele Cabiling 48

    Robinsodomite … have you ever slept with a woman you haven’t had to buy? Somehow I doubt it very much.

  48. Steve Pierson 49

    Guys. Can we stop the ‘you’re a whore’ ‘you sleep with whores’? Cheers. Also, the homophobia’s a bit off Michele.

  49. Michele Cabiling 50

    [Tane: Deleted – your homophobia will no longer be tolerated]

  50. Michele Cabiling 51

    Principled opposition to unnatural behaviour is not “phobic” at all. That’s just a way of trying to pathologise an opponent rather than engaging with their argument. If you have to do that it simply points up the inherent weakness of any countervailing position you might hold.

    Feeble!

  51. pete 52

    Obviously a tax cut gives your take-home pay a short term boost. But that means there’s less pressure on employers to increase wages — eventually employers will claw back most of the tax cut for themselves by giving out smaller pay-raises than they otherwise would’ve.

    Since this reduces the cost of labour, they’ll invest less in capital, which will slow down economic growth.

    To grow the economy the gov’t needs to:
    1) provide incentives for investment,
    2) use worker-friendly labour law to put upward pressure on wages.

  52. The PC Avenger 53

    Michele, if your opposition to homosexuality was principled, and based solely on your perception of it being ‘unnatural’ then you should also be opposed to any other ‘unnatural’ acts, such as living in a house, cooking your food, and wearing shoes.

    In any case, homosexual behaviour occurs in nature, so .

  53. Michele Cabiling 54

    Not so, buddy. You conflate things that cannot be conflated to advance an illogical sophist argument.

    It’s perfectly natural to use one’s brain to improve one’s quality of life. Living in a house provides comfort and protection from the elements. Cooking food makes its safer (less bacteria), taste better, and bring a wider range of foodstuffs into consumption (eg grains that can’t be properly digested unless cooked

    Homosexuality runs counter to the natural teleology of the body. That which is normal is that which funtions according to its design. The anus is an organ of excretion, not procreation. Heterosexual intercourse creates life. Homosexual intercourse creates nothing but bacterial life. It’s biologically redundant behaviour.

    And to say that because some adolescent animals can be observed practising mounting behaviour together normalises a pathological sexual addiction in humans is drawing a very long bow.

  54. Jeez and y’know what doesn’t occur in nature, PC? Property rights.

  55. natural teleology of the body,???

    If you’re gonna use big words M than you should use them right. teleology has become an essentially phenomenological and deconstructionist term related to causative explanations of, and relating to, is-ness and its narrative. The idea that the biological entity that is the body can have such a thing is a contradiction in terms by definition and in practice. I would suggest Michele that you have made the mistake of too literal a reading of phenomenological theory. Or more likely, given the antiquated nature of your economic theory, are caught in the archaic and philosophically redundant definition of the term as it applies to “vitalism”.

    Don’t worry ‘chele, it’s an easy thing for a fool to do.

  56. Dan 57

    Must we talk in words of one syllable for the people on the right. A tax cut is not the same as a wage rise. A tax cut means reduction of hospital services, roads left unimproved, lousy provision for education, etc ie if you cut taxes, you cut services.
    If you get a wage rise, there is no cut in services, and you can spend the money as you wish rather than paying for services that are cut under a National government. In fact wage rises would mean an increase in the tax take so we could provide more services!!!
    Go Helen!!

  57. Dean 58

    “Must we talk in words of one syllable for the people on the right. A tax cut is not the same as a wage rise. A tax cut means reduction of hospital services, roads left unimproved, lousy provision for education, etc ie if you cut taxes, you cut services.”

    Except when Labour offers them, right? Also, theyre not inflationary, unlike Nationals?

    Honestly. Can’t you come up with anything better?

  58. The PC Avenger 59

    Michele, you shouldn’t be so surprised. I learnt how to conflate and oversimplify things from you.

    Oh, so if something that is unnatural by it’s, ah hah, nature, was developed as a consequence of a natural act, then it then becomes natural in and of itself? What a fascinating idea, and that can be easily used to rationalise homosexual behaviour.

    To address your “teleology’ argument, not all homosexuals enjoy or engage in anal sex. Case in point: Lesbians. Or is your hate only reserved for males?

    As for your ‘mounting’ comment. Hardly. Adult Bonobos regularly engage in homosexual acts, and it is a purely social interaction, thought to have the purpose of increasing the bonds within the troop.

    In any case, your argument was that homosexuality is unnatural, and hence your outspoken views are rational and acceptable. Unfortunately for you, the evidence says otherwise. Homosexuality occurs in nature, and not just in primates. If I recall correctly, there’s also a pair of male penguins that have been going through the motions of mating behaviour.

  59. The Double Standard 60

    Dan – must be galling for you that Helen is selling tax cuts all over?

  60. Policy Parrot 61

    “Homosexuality runs counter to the natural teleology of the body. That which is normal is that which funtions according to its design. The anus is an organ of excretion, not procreation. Heterosexual intercourse creates life. Homosexual intercourse creates nothing but bacterial life. It’s biologically redundant behaviour.”

    I gather then Michele that you have never had sex except in order to create off-spring?

    Otherwise your argument is hypocritical.

  61. Murray 62

    Tane – blowing goats is illegal. The part of Robinsods post where he/she accuses TDS of this act should have been deleted due to the illegal nature of the act. Your reprimand was pathetic, unless of course you think blowing goats is OK.

  62. Dan 63

    Dean and Double Standard old chaps,it is not in the least bit galling!! If John Key can swallow dead rats all over the place (He’s the King of Ratatouile), then I am sure Clark and Cullen can do the same on one or two issues. The fascinating thing at the moment is the gradual realisation across the spectrum that cuts cannot amount to much, that the Nats much vaunted “Vote for us and you will win the equivalent of Lotto’ is nonsense, and the only ones who will win are those very fortunate few in favour of a strategic deficit that results from the big spend. I would prefer my $20 or $30 per week or whatever was spent on roads, hospitals, energy development.
    When tax is effectively kneecapped as an issue, then what has National got? Boot camps? Increases in doctors’ fees? Bulkfunding in education? Yeh……..right!

    I waste my gall on the level of debate in this column. We are talking about tax and wages aren’t we? There sure are some cretins out there. I don’t believe they belong to any party!

  63. AncientGeek 64

    Cam: the problem is that the tories have this tendency to take gains in the short-term. Anyone can do that, just burn muscle while saying you’re burning fat.

    On in the case of an economy, rather than putting in the infrastructure of plant and training required for the next level of growth rate, go and spend it instead. Waste it on maintaining high levels of unemployment (cheaper than effective training), inadequete education, bad public health, and taxcuts.

    The problem comes after you’ve burnt out the economic drivers, there is little capacity for growth. To get it you have to put more money in than if you’d kept on a steady pace of investment in infrastructure all of the time.

    But that is the tory trademark – run down the systems and cry about the law and order consequences a generation later.

  64. Dean 65

    ” I would prefer my $20 or $30 per week or whatever was spent on roads, hospitals, energy development.”

    If you had it given back to you as a tax cut, would you just donate it to the IRD as a testament to your convictions? After all, it amounts to the same thing. But of course, that would require you taking responsibility for your own money instead of letting the government handle that for you.

    Why is this such a problem?

  65. Michele Cabiling 66

    This is a long post.

    IrishBill says: yes too long Michele and you’ve posted most of this before. In the interest of brevity, try linking back to your old comments and sources next time.

  66. chris 67

    Tory, political designation, the meaning of which is, as usual, complex and ambivalent. Originally applied to Irish Catholic bandits, it was used derisively in the seventeenth century to characterize defenders of the principals of hereditary succession to the crown and non-resistance to the monarch. During the eighteenth century it was applied to conservatives who insisted upon the constituted authority of the Church of England, upon the divine right of kingship, and upon parliamentary privilege predicated upon the ownership of land.

    The Tory power base was the conservative rural squirearchy, which was violently opposed to the taxation required to pay for the wars with France that the Whigs stood rather to profit by.

    http://www.victorianweb.org/history/Tory.html

    Four hundred years on and they still have their “born to rule” attitudes.
    Captcha, “fair industries”

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    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    18 hours ago
  • How Should We Organise a Modern Economy?
    Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 day ago
  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    2 days ago
  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;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:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    2 days ago
  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    2 days ago
  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    3 days ago
  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago
  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    3 days ago
  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    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
    3 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
    3 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 ...
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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 ...
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    5 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 ...
    5 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 ...
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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 ...
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days ago
  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    6 days ago
  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    7 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    7 days ago
  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    1 week ago
  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week 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
    1 day 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 days ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
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