The elective surgery “success story”

Written By: - Date published: 7:14 am, November 29th, 2012 - 60 comments
Categories: Ethics, health, national - Tags: , ,

With unemployment grinding upwards, the economy stagnant, the education system in turmoil, and the exodus to Australia at record levels, the Nats must have thought that at least they had a success story to tell on health. Here’s a press release from back in August:

Big increase in elective surgery and reduction in waiting times

More patients are getting the operations they need and they’re getting them faster, according to the latest information from district health boards.

“An extra 7,500 patients received elective surgery in the last 12 months, meaning 153,000 people got the operations they needed. This is the fourth year of record increases under National,” said Health Minister Tony Ryall.

“Since the change of government in 2008, thirty per cent more patients are getting elective surgery.

Good news – right? Maybe not. Last night, on 3 News:

Children kicked off surgery lists – Labour

Children are dropping off treatment lists as hospitals focus on the Government’s elective surgery targets, Labour says. …

Outside Parliament, Ms Street said clinicians and parents had told her about “some truly sad cases” of complex operations and appointments which had been cancelled. “In one case a solo mum couldn’t even get her four-year-old on a waiting list for a first specialist assessment because the district health board (DHB) has to keep waiting times low to look good for the minister of health,” she said. …

Ms Street says clinicians have told her the situation is demoralising. “They are compelled to make decisions for the wrong reasons – health is always about competing priorities but what we are seeing here are people being asked to make decisions they feel uncomfortable about.”

The Government sets targets for hospitals and 35,000 more elective operations are being carried out each year since National came to power in 2008. Ms Street says they are focusing on simple procedures so they can meet the targets.

This is the untold backstory to the “success” – to ramp up elective surgery something else has to give. It is also yet another example of the Nats micro-managing professionals, like trying to tell Universities what to teach, and ramming national standards down the throats of schools. Medical decisions should be left to medical professionals, not made hostage to the Nats’ desperation to generate at least some numbers that look good.

60 comments on “The elective surgery “success story” ”

  1. Draco T Bastard 1

    The Government sets targets for hospitals…

    Why the hell is the government setting targets for hospitals? The only thing they should be doing is funding them.

    It is also yet another example of the Nats micro-managing professionals…

    Which is how authoritarians work. They truly cannot leave people who know what they’re doing alone. They have to try to make it look like they’re important.

    • Pretty hard to measure the success (or otherwise) of something if you haven’t a target.

      • One Tāne Huna 1.1.1

        Pretty hard to measure the success of something if you set false targets, manipulate the statistics, and refuse point blank to even do the measurements that matter.

        Luckily, we can rely on less venal and dishonest observers to fill the gaps a bit.

      • Pascal's bookie 1.1.2

        Go on then, analyse the success of these targets.

      • McFlock 1.1.3

        Surely the “target” is that everyone gets the treatment they need in a timely manner? And the only way to achieve that is to write a cheque.
                   
        Introducing micro-targets is a time-honoured way of governments pretending to do something in the health sector: arbitrary time limits on ED visits before ward admission (so some of the cannier hospitals measured the ED consultation from when the patient was seen by the consultant, not triage nurse or receptionist), waiting list lengths (so “pre-waiting list” lists were developed, where people sat in a queue for 6 months to even get on the waiting list), bringing down rates of specific conditions (tweak the aggregated diagnoses classes). Most of the time, all such specific targets do is create work for middle managers to juke the stats so they can quickly jump to another ship.
             
        The only exception that springs to mind is the immunisation target, but that’s pretty thoroughly defined in what, how and when various criteria are met, and it’s centrally registered rather than reliant on internal DHB systems to aggregate data.

         

      • Lanthanide 1.1.4

        Of course Contrarian, but the problem is that the majority of the time, when you set out a target to be reached, it comes at the cost of some other activity that is not being recorded (otherwise you would be recording *everything*).

        This in turn means that people will devote less time/resources to the non-monitored activity and more towards the monitored activity. This becomes very problematic when people start ‘gaming the system’ – the things that are being sacrificed in order to achieve the good results are actually more harmful in aggregate than the benefit derived from the measured result.

        This is very evident in software all of the time and there are obvious examples of it: managers at a company decide to make it’s developers “more productive” by recording and rewarding them for the number of lines of code they write in a given week. Very quickly you get wasteful and sloppy coding styles designed to inflate the lines of code so as to appear good on the measured statistic. That is because the measure of productivity is flawed: productivity really has nothing to do with lines of code written in a given time frame, and in fact some of the best code improvements can be the result of deleting lines of code.

        • TheContrarian 1.1.4.1

          My comment was more directed towards Draco’s incredulity that the government would set targets.

          Targets in a business sense are wrong for hospital but a target like “train an extra 300 nurses in 2013” is a better approach than just writing a cheque without a goal in mind if you follow.

          • McFlock 1.1.4.1.1

            Which is why firing public servants is a dumb idea – how do we know we need to boost nurse training by 300 nurses without effective analysis of population needs?
                   
            But even then, that’s not specifically a hospital concern: the ministry provides a bridge between the dhbs and the training sector (or overseas recruitment). Maintaining national levels of resources is a strategic issue, and very different from “maximum time on a waiting list is 6 months, your hospital has five patients at 8 months, you get a bad performance review which will hurt your pay or career unless you fudge the stats”. 

          • Lanthanide 1.1.4.1.2

            Ah right, I see, I didn’t read his original comment.

            Yeah, he does say some stupid things.

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.5

        I didn’t say anything about not having targets just that the government shouldn’t set them.

  2. One Tāne Huna 2

    “They are compelled to make decisions for the wrong reasons…”

    Hippocracy? What do you do when the minister orders you to break your oath?

    • Bill 2.1

      ‘cept it’s my guess that the miinister is instructing managerial types in the Health Service. And the managerial types then instruct the doctors/ surgeons etc either directly or through policy formation and what not. Which begs the question: Why are hospital boards and such like staffed with any people who have a business background though not a medical background?

      • Lanthanide 2.1.1

        “Which begs the question:”

        Actually it “raises the question”.

        “Why are hospital boards and such like staffed with any people who have a business background though not a medical background?”

        Because modern hospitals are run like businesses, which actually is the proper way to do it, if you want to keep costs under control (which the government does). If you required all higher-up types to have medical and business backgrounds, there wouldn’t be very many people to choose from to fill those roles, furthermore you create a chicken-and-egg situation of where do those people actually come from.

        • weka 2.1.1.1

          And yet prior to the 90s that’s exactly what we had: medical people with managerial skills. Are you suggesting that those people weren’t competent at managing budgets? I think it’s more likely that they understood very well that cutting budgets was a false economy in terms of the health of the NZ population, and so were considered to have conflicting interests with the ideology of the govt of the day.

          • Lanthanide 2.1.1.1.1

            “Are you suggesting that those people weren’t competent at managing budgets?”

            I’m suggesting that if those people were still in positions now, the health system would cost more than it does today. The output of the health system would probably also be better, however. The question would be, is the extra level of output worth the extra cost.

            This is of course all really theoretical.

            • KJT 2.1.1.1.1.1

              Really.

              There is plenty of evidence that, “being run like a business” adds costs and fucks off skilled staff. Making them less effective.

              http://kjt-kt.blogspot.co.nz/2011/04/kia-ora-corporatism-and-neo-liberalism.html
              “Many corporations and State or private enterprises run despite management, not because of them. In fact the constant parade of new brooms trying to make a name for themselves, with rapid changes and cost cutting, cause competent staff to resign and demoralise the rest.

              How many times, within a company, when you want the person who get things done. You ignore the suits staring out the windows in the corner offices and talk to the person, usually a women, who actually does things. Normally someone several pay grades below the suits.
              Or when you are ordering something. The bright well dressed manager calls some wizened old guy from the shop floor to ask if it can be done”.

              While working in the corporate world I have noticed many times that the best thing to do, as the Japanese proved after WW2, is to run firms less “like a business” and more co-operatively. Sacking the manager and employing his secretary in his place would also be effective.
              In fact it was an American business guru, Deeming, who laid the foundations for Germanies and Japans more co-operative, and strikingly successful, productivity.

              • Lanthanide

                Nothing on that blog post is specific to hospitals.

                • Bastables

                  Nothing you said proves that running hospitals as businesses “keeps costs” down. The American/USA experience with free market health does indicate that health sector as profit increases costs without a corresponding increase in efficacy.

      • weka 2.1.2

        Answer: National’s health reforms in the 1990s completely changed the managerial culture in the health system away from medical staff towards business managers, as part of shifting the system to a business model. The problem now is that NZ probably doesn’t have medical staff with the experience to run the managerial level any more.
         
        Those reforms also included the introduction of PR managers. The press and the general public, were no longer allowed direct access to senior staff, all questions about policy and the running of hospitals had to go through the hospital’s PR person.
         
        In the early 90s National also sacked the democratically elected Area Health Boards and replaced them with appointees.

        • One Tāne Huna 2.1.2.1

          What percentage of the tax take was the health budget, then and now? Has the business model saved anything at all?

          Doesn’t look like it.

          “NZ real spending growth very high relative to GDP growth in recent years [1995-2005] – more than double (4.3% to 1.9% annual average)”

          • Lanthanide 2.1.2.1.1

            Which is really a false premise, because we don’t know how much health care costs would have changed if we had stuck with the status quo.

            There are several drivers behind the increase in healthcare spending, to name a few:
            – ageing population
            – newer, expensive treatments
            – better treatments that allow people to be saved (with ongoing huge medical expenses) where previously they may have just died
            – more entitled population that demand healthcare

            • weka 2.1.2.1.1.1

              That’s true Lanth, plus increased poverty leads to more hospital admissions because people can’t afford primary health care and/or essential health needs like decent housing, diet, freedom from stress. In fact, the economic reforms in the 80s may only just be becoming apparent now as children from then start to hit their later years. I’m guessing it will be worse in another decade or so.
               
              However I doubt that the business model is successful even on its own economic terms (unless simply controlling the upward move of the overall budget is the goal). I’d love to see an audit done on this but I doubt that we have anything close to a real analysis.
               

            • One Tāne Huna 2.1.2.1.1.2

              Lanth: the quote (from page 7) is from a comparison of other OECD members. The figures show that our health costs rose more steeply than the average over the period in question.

              PS: your list of “drivers” is incomplete: you forgot to mention that executive salaries have risen faster than the average. Wouldn’t want those magic talented business managers heading to the private sector for more dosh, now would we? That would never do.

              • Lanthanide

                Ok, so our healthcare costs rose faster. Off of what base did they rise? It’s likely that other OECD countries had existing more expensive technology available in their hospitals already compared to NZ and that a large part of the increase is really just us “catching up” to where the others are at.

                I’ve had very little to do with the health system in general, however on one visit to the hospital I commented on all the fancy gadget they had around. The nurse, who was original from America said “really? these models are about 3 or 4 generations behind what we had in the US”.

                • One Tāne Huna

                  Well, if we can’t draw conclusions from the information we have, there’s nothing to support the premise that employing “business” managers leads to cost savings, is there?

                  • Lanthanide

                    But there’s also nothing to reject it, because as I said, we don’t know how much costs would have risen under any other regime.

                    • One Tāne Huna

                      Nothing to reject it? How about the fact that every other neo-liberal fantasy has proven false?

                      “…modern hospitals are run like businesses, which actually is the proper way to do it…”

                      What is your opinion based on?

                    • weka

                      The increased cost of technology is a well known issue in health care globally. But so is the increased cost of poverty. It’s a complex situation, and as I said above, I doubt that there has been any real, in depth analysis of the situation in NZ.
                       
                      We know that the changes in the 90s were ideological. The issue is whether they worked at capping the budget rises. Leaving all the above mentioned variables aside, I’m not convinced they did – can point to plenty of examples of false economies in the last 20 years.

                    • weka

                      What does ‘business model’ mean in this context? I know that many of the clinical managers and others in the health system in the 90s thought it was a mad idea. A business model was one that operated in a system that was designed to turn a profit, and that that profit would be sustainable over time (and generally there was profit over costs so that dividends could be paid). The health system doesn’t generate any income, is completely dependent on external funding, and always runs at a loss.
                       
                      I’m sure that there were things that needed to be done more efficiently, and that new systems could have been developped that increased efficiency while maintaining core values, but adopting a business model was just idiotic. It would be like trying to run welfare on a business model.

                    • Lanthanide

                      “What is your opinion based on?”

                      The fact that hospitals have huge expenses that need to be managed efficiently and effectively if costs are going to be reduced as much as possible. The people who have those kinds of skills are those in the business world, because that’s what they’re trained to do. Doctors are trained to treat people.

                      Note that that doesn’t mean the business people are making decisions completely divorced from the industry that they’re operating in (health), because obviously they have advisors and a lot of input from the health professionals that they use as part of their decision making. They also have a ministry behind them with more health experts that are tasked with maintaining the health of the country – they aren’t operating in a vacuum where they get to do whatever they want to cut costs.

                    • One Tāne Huna

                      Ok Lanth, you’ve articulated the theory pretty well.

                      And Weka has produced a pretty good counter argument.

                      I think the practice probably support Weka – it (the move to a business model) was nonsense from the start, ideological claptrap. It hasn’t done any of the things it was intended to do, except perhaps advance a privatisation agenda.

                      What exactly was broken that needed so much fixing? Bearing in mind this came from the same crowd that took unemployment to record levels and “led” the country into a double dip recession, sacked the mining inspectors and deregulated the shipping lanes.

                      But by some pure fluke perhaps, they managed to get healthcare right?

                      Of course health resources have to be rationed. That was already happening.

                    • Lanthanide

                      Actually I don’t think Weka said anything compelling at all, or indeed had any evidence. The second post basically just says “because this doesn’t generate a profit, it’s stupid to run it as a business”, which really is a silly thing to say. First post didn’t really say anything at all.

                      I’m just arguing against what, appears to me, to be a knee-jerk “running hospitals like a business is bad” that doesn’t seem to have any real basis apart from “businesses are bad”.

                    • One Tāne Huna

                      “Businesses are bad.”

                      No, they aren’t. But that misses the point also. Brian Easton weighs in:

                      The New Zealand health sector reforms of the 1990s have to be seen in the context of the long term development of the New Zealand health system. The evolutionary change between 1938 and 1990 was abruptly replaced by the revolutionary policy of commercialisation from 1991 to 1993. …
                      … This proved unsatisfactory, with the promised benefits such as significant productivity increases not occurring. In some ways the system functioned even more imperfectly, although this was in part due to the funding cutbacks which took place at the same time. The policy shifts from the mid 1990s have largely taken the New Zealand health system back to where it would have been, had the evolution up to 1990 continued. There remains unfinished business, the largest of which is that the tensions between the managers and the health professionals have not been resolved. The New Zealand experience provides strong evidence that comprehensive commercialisation – business practices within, market relations between institutions – will not make a significant contribution to the design of effective health systems.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      The people who have those kinds of skills are those in the business world, because that’s what they’re trained to do.

                      Did you happen to notice the GFC? Yeah, that was caused by the people trained in the business world.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Lanth, I think you’ve fallen for the cult of managerialism, just a tad.

                      Hospitals need operational managers with deep technical and subject area competence. Doctors and other healthcare professionals who have had suitable additional OPERATIONAL (not merely “business”) training are perfect for the role.

                      Then you have a bunch of bean counters who look after the financial efficiency and cost tracking side of things.

          • rosy 2.1.2.1.2

            Now that’s interesting – the Treasury doc shows in 2005 NZ had a lower percentage of GDP spent on health than comparable countries. I’ve understood that the Labour government deliberately increased health expenditure as a catch-up because our spending per person was well below the OECD average.

            If you look at the tables produced by the OECD health spending as a percentage of GDP, over the last few years has increased to exceed that of Australia (10.1 to 9.1). Maybe to do with the slow GDP in NZ compared with Australia?

            However, the spending per person is US$3670 in Australia but only US$3022 in New Zealand. So we’re still behind in per person terms (part of the explanation will be Pharmac).

            • KJT 2.1.2.1.2.1

              If you want a comparison with a country which runs health care as a business you only have to compare the coverage and cost in the USA to countries that have a publicly funded health system.

              They spend a total several times more than New Zealand for much less overall benefit.

              • rosy

                Yes, according to the Commonwealth Fund the U.S. actually spends more thantwice the amount on health than 6 comparable countries for worse results – that’s a privately run health system for you.

                On measures of efficiency, the U.S ranked last due to low marks when it comes to spending on administrative costs, use of information technology, re-hospitalization, and duplicative medical testing.

                That’s just for efficiency, for actually meeting the health needs of the population it’s just as bad e.g. last in infant mortality and last in preventable deaths before age 75.

  3. AwakeWhileSleeping 3

    How disgusting.

    So they won’t acknowledge child poverty and then they undermine treatment for the kids affected by poverty (among others) for political gain.

  4. tc 4

    Very deliberate here from Ryall (a very dark background player) and one of the reasons we’re seeing medical talent depart to go with other talent in other industries but I digress.

    He’s also pushing the gain onto private operators and if it goes wrong they get shipped back to public to be rectified/recovered, classic taxpayer funded wealth shifting.

    Combine this with the ACC changes and a cap on increased funding, which as health runs at 10% CPI is a slash, and it’s a double whammy effect.

    If only we had a MSM who actually did some research and objective reporting as this issue has been around for years now.

    Recall this is the bloke who lies in the house on increased nurses etc and yet he keeps being reported without balance or questioning.

    • Enough is Enough 4.1

      It is called cooking the books.

      These corrupt ministers should be tried and sent to prison

      • One Tāne Huna 4.1.1

        Yes, make statements in Parliament subject to the laws of perjury and enforce them ruthlessly and with extreme prejudice and assumption of guilt.

        Investigate the sale of government policy by the National Party for a start.

  5. Red Rosa 5

    Well said tc. There always had to be something dodgy about the Ryall ‘success story’.

    And Street and TV3 seem to have uncovered it.

    This takes hard work, persistent digging, speaking truth to power.. great stuff.

    Let’s not forget that Opposition MPs are paid $150+ salaries to do this…not to wallow in comfort while the government makes the running. Good to see some action.

  6. Lanthanide 6

    The proper way for the government to increase elective surgeries is to increase funding for hospitals, not re-prioritise existing funding.

  7. karol 7

    And Key said in the House this week:

    I should point out that I deal in the facts. All I am interested in is the facts.

    Of course, the selection and use of facts can distort the truth, as done with the government’s selective use of elective surgery – facts.  No to mention that they have skewed the system to produce the statistical facts they want to selectively use.

  8. odysseus 8

    I haven’t the time to go into this at great length but I use to work in this area ( govt health spending prioritisation ) both under this govt and the previous. A few thoughts.

    Healthcare is rationed all around the world – it is how it is rationed that differs. In the USA – by income. Here – prioritisation on the basis of clinical need and ability to benefit. Other places – a waiting list.
    So there is nothing unusual about placing limits on healthcare spend – in fact, it is necessary.

    Furthermore , though it is arguable, there is nothing wrong with setting targets either. They have been shown to work in improving performance. But of course targets must be set in alignment with good prioritisation processes. Elsewise, one very rapidly starts to see the sort of behaviour alluded to by others. The classic example is in the NHS when setting a maximum wait time target in ED resulted in patients being driven around in ambulances for hours so as to avoid admission to ED.

    It was very clear to me that from 2009 , prioritisation of elective services started to fall out of favour with this govt. They wanted ” good news ” stories which tend to focus entirely on the volumes of electives provided . DHBs focussed on ” more”, rather than ” more of the right thing”. And we are now seeing the result.

  9. KJT 9

    You can see the same cooking the books in Christchurch.

    Locals who have a house which is uninhabitable and require extensive repairs are having to wait up to three years, while those with minor damage are getting it done immediately, so that Brownlee can claim a certain number of houses are sorted.

    • tc 9.1

      Yup apply ointment while the open wounds go unattended.

      Selectively report convenient pieces of data and refuse to front any direct questioning about the whole picture.

      CT would call that ‘framing the issue’ probably, a.k.a. propaganda/misdirection/deception.

  10. You’re not comparing apples with apples. The press release you mention from August has hard numbers; the 3 News story is one Labour member giving anecdotal evidence that doesn’t get any more specific than “some” and “one.”

    The point of your blog may well be correct. But if the source you’re working off uses quantitative data, it’s misleading to use qualitative data to refute it.

  11. Tracey 11

    BUt but but Peter Jackson just made a lovely movie… get with the programme people.

  12. Adrian 12

    Lanth at 10.11 re old school costs. Several years ago a woman speaking on 9 to Noon I think said that a few decades ago ( probably the 60s or 70s, I can’t remember) her husband a surgeon used to run Tauranga hospital with her as partime secretary and they used their own car. She had been astounded to find out how many people it now took to do the same job ( admittedly Tauranga was half the size then) but the current number doing their job was about 60-70 with 27 cars supplied to the administrative staff. Oh, by the way he did a full surgey list as well. I know it was the same in Blenheim and Nelson, a full time surgeon also ran the hospitals in each town, aided by a Matron in charge of nursing, they shared a secretary.
    Got to be a flyshit cheaper wouldn’t you think.

    • Lanthanide 12.1

      Hospitals these days do a lot more than they used to in the past, and I’m not just talking about new surgeries and treatments, but also a lot more outpatients visits etc.

      My sister works in older person’s mental health and visits multiple elderly people each week in their own residences or nursing homes to do psychological testing (dementia mostly). The car she uses is provided by the DHB.

      They certainly weren’t doing that sort of thing in the 60’s or 70’s.

  13. Reagan Cline 13

    I am a “health professional” and I make a lot of money from DISEASE.

    The more DISEASE the more money I make from the New Zealand Government and from “health” insurers.

    The really satisfying part of this is I am the one who decides what the DISEASE is and “the treatment needed”.

    And the patients always consent !!! Yay !!

  14. xtasy 14

    “Elective surgery” is the chosen propaganda slogan of National and slimy Tony (Goebbels) Ryall.

    I last went to the doctor not long ago, welcomed with a sign in their surgery, informing me and others they regrettably had to increase fees, due to funding cuts in certain areas.

    There is a person I know who went to CADS for counseling a couple of years back, then learning, they were facing funding freezes and cuts, so they had to stop printing business cards for staff members and take numerous other steps to contain or reduce costs.

    Here in Auckland there is another service provider called ProCare Psychological Services, also dependent on some subsidies from the DHB, to run their services.

    Two years back they were able to offer 5 free counseling sessions for mild to moderate mental health sufferers, which were then still subsidised by the Health Board (and thus the state).

    That had to be reduced to 4 “free” sessions a year ago, and now I am told, that service has this year had to start charging $ 50 per session without a Community Services Card, and $ 25 per session with a CSC.

    This is also due to cuts and “reprioritising” of health funding!

    There are also many other services being cut back all over the place, and that is what the Nats and their support wallies are not talking about!

    I wish Labour would have learned this some time ago and raised it in the House. Maybe it is the expressed anger and frustration by many in this forum, that has finally been noticed and heard, so they may have “awoken” to some degree, to start doing the work they should have been doing since late 2008?

    • rosy 14.1

      I agree xtasy, whether there is a trade-off between primary care, especially for the poor and elective surgery is where Labour should be looking, rather than one type of surgery vs. another. For sure DHBs have been cutting non-hospital measures to ease access for the poorest. Capital & Coast for instance has cut funding to Newtown Union Health Services which provides low-cost or free health services to some of the most vulnerable people in Wellington.

      Labour promoted and funded access to primary care as a health priority with the aim of reducing Accident and Emergency waiting lists and other hospital care – especially for chronic illnesses like diabetes. This focus doesn’t seem to capture the media and public interest in the same way that needing an operation does. It seems to me the focus on surgical waiting lists is another easy to measure policy – a quick win for the government, so to speak, rather than an evidenced-based health priority.

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    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 hours ago
  • How to Take a Screenshot on an Asus Laptop A Comprehensive Guide with Detailed Instructions and Illu...
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  • How to Factory Reset Gateway Laptop A Comprehensive Guide
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    2 hours ago
  • The Folly Of Impermanence.
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    5 hours ago
  • A crisis of ambition
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 hours ago
  • Have 308 people in the Education Ministry’s Curriculum Development Team spent over $100m on a 60-p...
    Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 hours ago
  • 'This bill is dangerous for the environment and our democracy'
    Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago
  • The Bank of our Tamariki and Mokopuna.
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    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 hours ago
  • The worth of it all
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    10 hours ago
  • What is the Hardest Sport in the World?
    Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
    12 hours ago
  • What is the Most Expensive Sport?
    The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
    12 hours ago
  • Pickleball On the Cusp of Olympic Glory
    Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
    13 hours ago
  • The Origin and Evolution of Soccer Unveiling the Genius Behind the World’s Most Popular Sport
    Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
    13 hours ago
  • How Much to Tint Car Windows A Comprehensive Guide
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    13 hours ago
  • Why Does My Car Smell Like Gas? A Comprehensive Guide to Diagnosing and Fixing the Issue
    The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
    13 hours ago
  • How to Remove Tree Sap from Car A Comprehensive Guide
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    13 hours ago
  • How Much Paint Do You Need to Paint a Car?
    The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
    13 hours ago
  • Can You Jump a Car in the Rain? Safety Precautions and Essential Steps
    Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
    13 hours ago
  • Can taxpayers be confident PIJF cash was spent wisely?
    Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    19 hours ago
  • EGU2024 – An intense week of joining sessions virtually
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    21 hours ago
  • Submission on “Fast Track Approvals Bill”
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    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    22 hours ago
  • The Case for a Universal Family Benefit
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    PunditBy Brian Easton
    23 hours ago
  • A who’s who of New Zealand’s dodgiest companies
    Submissions on National's corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law are due today (have you submitted?), and just hours before they close, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop has been forced to release the list of companies he invited to apply. I've spent the last hour going through it in an epic thread of bleats, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • On Lee’s watch, Economic Development seems to be stuck on scoring points from promoting sporting e...
    Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • New Zealand has never been closed for business
    1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Melissa Lee and the media: ending the quest
    Chris Trotter writes –  MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to April 19
    TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The ‘Humpty Dumpty’ end result of dismantling our environmental protections
    Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Nicola's Salad Days.
    I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Study sees climate change baking in 19% lower global income by 2050
    TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-April-2024
    It’s Friday again. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week on Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered at the government looking into a long tunnel for Wellington. On Wednesday we ran a post from Oscar Simms on some lessons from Texas. AT’s ...
    1 day ago
  • Jack Vowles: Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  The data is from February this ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    1 day ago
  • Clearing up confusion (or trying to)
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log iPhone Without Computer
    How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log on iPhone Without a Computer: A StepbyStep Guide Losing your iPhone call history can be frustrating, especially when you need to find a specific number or recall an important conversation. But before you panic, know that there are ways to retrieve deleted call logs on your iPhone, even without a computer. This guide will explore various methods, ranging from simple checks to utilizing iCloud backups and thirdparty applications. So, lets dive in and recover those lost calls! 1. Check Recently Deleted Folder: Apple understands that accidental deletions happen. Thats why they introduced the Recently Deleted folder for various apps, including the Phone app. This folder acts as a safety net, storing deleted call logs for up to 30 days before permanently erasing them. Heres how to check it: Open the Phone app on your iPhone. Tap on the Recents tab at the bottom. Scroll to the top and tap on Edit. Select Show Recently Deleted. Browse the list to find the call logs you want to recover. Tap on the desired call log and choose Recover to restore it to your call history. 2. Restore from iCloud Backup: If you regularly back up your iPhone to iCloud, you might be able to retrieve your deleted call log from a previous backup. However, keep in mind that this process will restore your entire phone to the state it was in at the time of the backup, potentially erasing any data added since then. Heres how to restore from an iCloud backup: Go to Settings > General > Reset. Choose Erase All Content and Settings. Follow the onscreen instructions. Your iPhone will restart and show the initial setup screen. Choose Restore from iCloud Backup during the setup process. Select the relevant backup that contains your deleted call log. Wait for the restoration process to complete. 3. Explore ThirdParty Apps (with Caution): ...
    2 days ago
  • How to Factory Reset iPhone without Computer: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring your Device
    Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
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  • How to Call Someone on a Computer: A Guide to Voice and Video Communication in the Digital Age
    Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
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  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
    Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications: Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
    2 days ago
  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
    The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
    2 days ago
  • How Many Watts Does a Laptop Use? Understanding Power Consumption and Efficiency
    Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
    2 days ago
  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
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    2 days ago
  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
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    2 days ago
  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
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    2 days ago
  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
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    2 days ago
  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
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    2 days ago
  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
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    2 days ago
  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
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    2 days ago
  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    2 days ago
  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    2 days ago
  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    2 days ago
  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    3 days ago
  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • PM’s South East Asia mission does the business
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.    “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
    The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
    New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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