The Ferguson interview

Written By: - Date published: 11:39 am, March 6th, 2015 - 51 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, Spying - Tags: , , , , , , ,

An extraordinary interview with former director of the GCSB Sir Bruce Ferguson on RNZ this morning:

GCSB in mass collection of Pacific data: Ferguson

A former director of the GCSB says there is mass collection of emails and communications in the Pacific, but the spy agency does not use material about New Zealanders collected inadvertently.

Ferguson just confirmed the claims made by Snowden / Hager / Fisher in yesterday’s Herald investigation. Claims that John Key preemptively and categorically denied. So now we know, the GCSB smokes but it claims it doesn’t inhale.

The audio of the interview is here. Any help transcribing it would be gratefully received, please post (with times indicated) in comments. (Audio of Key is here.)

In the mean time, here’s some of the reaction to the interview:

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51 comments on “The Ferguson interview ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. r0b 1
    6 March 2015 at 11:43 am

    At time of publication Twitter links are not loading automatically, probably a consequence of yesterday’s crash and hurried reboot. No doubt this will be fixed at some point…

    … and we’re back – thanks lprent!

  2. veutoviper 2
    6 March 2015 at 12:09 pm

    Test to see if this link works. If it does I will repost the others

    https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/573566990633172992

  3. Conal Tuohy 3
    6 March 2015 at 12:22 pm

    I love how everyone goes on about how the GCSB weren’t breaking the law if they didn’t spy on NZers. Did they break Samoan law? Did they break Tongan and Fijian laws? The question never even comes up. By that logic did Alain Mafart and Dominique Prieur break the law when they conspired to come to NZ to blow up the Rainbow Warrior?

    • idlegus 3.1
      6 March 2015 at 1:59 pm

      todays editorial in the ODT “There is nothing illegal about the GCSB’s work in relation to other countries. ”

      http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/335368/question-spying

      • One Anonymous Bloke 3.1.1
        6 March 2015 at 2:02 pm

        Sure, they’re legal, just like when I install hidden cameras in your bedroom, I have to be a foreign spy to make it legal, and I won’t get arrested, no way.

        Well, if I am arrested I can’t be extradited. All Kim Dotcom needs to do is join the army and everything he does is legit.

    • weka 3.2
      6 March 2015 at 7:56 pm

      “Did they break Samoan law? Did they break Tongan and Fijian laws?”

      According to Ferguson we’re spying on Pacific nations for their own good, to keep them safe and secure.

      • barry 3.2.1
        7 March 2015 at 5:22 pm

        Of course some of the information might be useful to us and other 5eyes countries in negotiating fishing deals etc.

  4. mac1 4
    6 March 2015 at 12:25 pm

    So, Ferguson says it’s OK to inadvertently gather data on NZers but has controls on how it might view or use it.

    However, use of the link above led to a RNZ item which said this……..

    Privacy lawyer at Chen Palmer, James Dunne, said it was not illegal for the GCSB to incidentally pick up New Zealanders’ communications in the context of overseas spying.
    “Having got that information there are some real controls on what the GCSB can do with it.
    “But one of the things it is allowed to do with it is pass that information on to a public authority overseas.”

    Note the last sentence. GCSB may not use but can pass it on overseas.

    What’s to stop that ‘public authority overseas’ to then inform NZ authorities on information it has garnered from this inadvertent gathering and re-transmission overseas by GCSB and thereby ‘legitimising’ it??

    • RJL 4.1
      6 March 2015 at 12:44 pm

      …”But one of the things it is allowed to do with it is pass that information on to a public authority overseas.”

      Only since the 2013 changes to the GCSB Act. However, GCSB has supposedly passed all NZ data gathered in the Pacific onto the NSA since 2009. Any NZ data passed between 2009-2013 to the NSA was illegally passed.

      Also the information can now only be passed to an overseas public authority (i.e. the NSA) for the following reasons (Section 25.2):
      ” The purposes are—
      (a) preventing or detecting serious crime in New Zealand or any other country:
      (b) preventing or avoiding the loss of human life on the high seas:
      (c) preventing or responding to threats to human life in New Zealand or any other country:
      (d) identifying, preventing, or responding to threats or potential threats to the security or defence of New Zealand or any other country.”

      While some of those reasons are pretty vague, simply passing “all NZ citizen data gathered onto the NSA” without any specific cause or reason is clearly still totally illegal.

      • mac1 4.1.1
        6 March 2015 at 1:12 pm

        Thanks, RJL, for the clarification. The news item did not specify that some of the controls also includes reasons why it may be shared. As you say, they’re pretty vague.

  5. les 5
    6 March 2015 at 12:54 pm

    ‘But one of the things it is allowed to do with it is pass that information on to a public authority overseas.”…does that include China,Russia…or is only some defined overseas public authority?

    • mickysavage 5.1
      6 March 2015 at 12:57 pm

      Whoever the Director wants to give the information to.

    • RJL 5.2
      6 March 2015 at 1:09 pm

      The exact wording is:
      “any public authority (whether in New Zealand or overseas) that the Director thinks fit to receive the information.”

      You can read it here:
      http://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2003/0009/latest/DLM187855.html

      • Jones 5.2.1
        6 March 2015 at 1:22 pm

        So that could include a non-government organisation officially acting in a public capacity.

        • RJL 5.2.1.1
          6 March 2015 at 2:46 pm

          This act doesn’t define “public authority”.

          Presumably whatever the host country counts as a “public authority” is intended. So, could perhaps include private organisations contracted to perform public functions. For example, contractors working for consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

          The GCSB act doesn’t (and realistically couldn’t) constrain what the foreign “public authority” does with the information subsequently, anyway.

  6. Tom Jackson 6
    6 March 2015 at 12:59 pm

    What a gouty old fascist.

  7. BLiP 7
    6 March 2015 at 1:54 pm

    ‘

    Really, Bruce, “trust us” . . . why?

    What’s frustrating about this is that mass surveillance does very little to protect us. Edward Snowden has pointed out that such spying actually exposes us to more risk because authorities are constantly and massively increasing the size of the haystacks in which they believe there might be a needle. Dig a little deeper and it becomes apparent that the “full capture” method is of more benefit to the “private sector partners” and their sales targets rather than the citizens who are paying for it.

    Ferguson’s defence of GCSB’s mass spying on New Zealanders is chilling in its cavalier delivery: “by employing wholesale spying on our neighbours we are actually their benefactors. Also – TINA – but you can trust us”. Not fucking likely, mate, not when your rationale effectively amounts to the inversion of truth to justify the subversion of liberty in order to serve the system put in place to protect it.

    I’m struggling to make sense of Bruce Ferguson’s fishing analogy. Sure, when out netting, I gather all sorts of stuff that I throw away . . . but when out spying, the GCSB isolates the extraneous material and then sends it to NSA which stores it, because why else would the US want it? Does the GCSB also have the right to trawl through this data being stored at NSA on a later date if one of the New Zealanders who’s private information was previously captured subsequently becomes “of interest”?

    • Bill 7.1
      6 March 2015 at 2:21 pm

      Sheer madness!

      This isn’t at youBlip, but if you’re fishing, do you not first have to identify that which you want to throw away in order to know that you want to throw it away? Now, when we are talking information, how do you identify that information without, essentially, subjecting it to a degree of surveillance?

      That last question you asked. GCSB has access to Keyscore. And if they want to ‘Keyscore’ me or you (say), then all they have to do is request that Australia or the UK, Canada or US stoogies do the actual search and then pass results back. Depending on the results, the GCSB can then legally access info and act on it, on the grounds of what showed from the Keyscore searches they ‘outsourced’.

      • Colonial Rawshark 7.1.1
        6 March 2015 at 2:33 pm

        Now, when we are talking information, how do you identify that information without, essentially, subjecting it to a degree of surveillance?

        In the “Thin Thread” system that Bill Binney developed at the NSA, all extraneous data collected which did not fit “profiles of interest” would be automatically deleted without any human input or oversight, in order to preserve (US) citizens constitutional rights.

        Further, a system of “unique anonymisation” would protect a potential target’s privacy rights until a court warrant had been obtained after probable cause had been demonstrated.

        This was in the year 2000.

      • BLiP 7.1.2
        6 March 2015 at 3:17 pm

        ‘

        Thanks, Bill. Your comment explains something I was thinking about but couldn’t quite put into words. Basically, Barrack Obama, David Cameron, Stephen Harper, Tony Abbott and whatshisname have pulled off an organised conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by fabricating a legally impenetrable device to protect, promote and expand the criminal activities of their government. It beggars belief that the main opposition parties within “The Club” were not aware of what was being pulled off, yet have said nothing. And what of those “public servants” who have facilitated this offence against us? I’m guessing entry into that echelon requires careful pre-employment testing by Human Resources to ensure a strong bent towards sociopathy. “Trust us”? What. Ever.

        Welcome to the 21st century’s form of government in the “free world”.

        • mickysavage 7.1.2.1
          6 March 2015 at 8:01 pm

          Classic example is the Sydney Siege (http://thestandard.org.nz/the-sydney-siege-finishes/)

          Man Haron Monis was publishing on his Facebook page what he was thinking but the authorities were unable to even realise what was happening.

          The system (storing mass data) is good if you want to check out what an identified individual such as a political activist is doing but working out threats? It is a waste of time.

      • McFlock 7.1.3
        6 March 2015 at 3:54 pm

        that’s actually what I couldn’t get about the entire KDC wiretapping by GCSB: surely that was exactly what echelon was supposed to be for?

        So it looks for all the world like it’s not just big brother, but our particular big brother is incompetent, easily led by bigger boys, and more than a little petulant. Which is actually more dangerous than a competent, well-meaning but overbearing big brother, in my opinion.

        The GCSB seems to be the sort of big brother who’d store his older mates’ class A supply-quantity drugs in your backpack just because they told him the cops wouldn’t search you.

  8. Bill 8
    6 March 2015 at 2:11 pm

    These guys need all of their toys taken away.

    • Murray Rawshark 8.1
      8 March 2015 at 2:30 am

      +1
      Disestablish the agencies and have a full public discussion about what we need.

  9. dave brown 9
    6 March 2015 at 2:20 pm

    Sure its legal.
    Bourgeois law is for suckers who believe that law represents something other than the interests of the ruling class.
    Capitalism has its own higher law; private property, expropriation of value, even the falling rate of profit.
    This bourgeois law trumps the law for the suckers.
    Until the suckers begin to see they are being suckered.
    Then its all about the law of nature.

  10. D'Esterre 10
    6 March 2015 at 2:22 pm

    I heard the interview. Ferguson came across as a bumbling old fool who doesn’t know when to shut up. He obviously sees as unexceptionable the wholesale hoovering up of data, but didn’t actually mean to say so: Espiner tripped him up. That’s when he launched into all those hokey similes and the like.

    God, this whole GCSB business so reminds me of the worst excesses of the Stasi – just without the violence and knocks on the door in the night! Yet…

  11. Colonial Rawshark 11
    6 March 2015 at 2:23 pm

    A totalitarian state wants to know everything that everyone one of its citizens is doing, as they are doing it, while the citizens are permitted to know nothing about what the state is doing. This is so the state (or its corporate partners) can disrupt any citizens life at any time, and the citizens can do nothing in return.

    It is an utter power imbalance and that’s how people like Ferguson like it. They thrive on the privilege like it is a drug.

    That’s where we are headed. And it’s not democracy. It is the slow death of a civilisation able to progress, create and innovate. It is a realm where people feel that they are being watched at all times, and where the surveillance of the state can anticipate what you are going to do before you even do it, any idea or creativity that even begins forming, they are watching over you, ever ready to approve or disapprove.

  12. Sabine 12
    6 March 2015 at 2:59 pm

    the panopticon has come alive. Yei, feeling so much safer now.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon

  13. aerobubble 13
    6 March 2015 at 3:57 pm

    Inappropriate questions brought up in parliament by MPs can harm National Security. Thats why large parties, who ae also likely to hold ministries that handle such infomation, when in govt, as opposition mps need to be inside the intelligence committee.

    How much easier would it be to have the whole debate behind doors. Yet for some unfathomable reason Key turned the inteeligence oversight committee into a bauble for Banks and Dunne, both thrown off for varying blunders.

    Now Little has exasperate the process more, the Greens, the most vocal opposition on state security have no way of knowing, and so ciuld stumble the debate into a security breach. And whose to blame,the PM who stacked his mate at the top, let big movies use spies to get dot com, dotcom who Key let into the country when he weakened the standards.

    So what a complete clusterfrack, no oversight, no competence at the top, no means to keep state secrets om being blurted out… ..key stone cops.

  14. Anne 14
    6 March 2015 at 4:37 pm

    Gary Moore put it in a nutshell the other day on The Panel ( I only listen when the guests are known to have a modicum of intelligence), he said:

    When a government takes our electronic communications… all our emails, phone calls etc. without telling us, it’s called National Security.

    But when someone takes the evidence which shows they have taken our communications without telling us, it’s called stealing.

    Sums it up nicely.

  15. weka 15
    6 March 2015 at 7:15 pm

    Audio http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20169815/former-gcsb-director-unfazed-by-spy-revelations

    Transcript (needs checking),

    GE: and listening to that is the former Director of the GCSB, Sir Bruce Ferguson, good morning to you.

    BF: Good morning.

    GE: Have tens of thousands or even thousands of New Zealanders travelling in the Pacific had their personal data passed to the NSA?

    BF: Well I don’t think there is any need to worry about that. I think, ah, it’s been fairly well explained, and the legislation does allow for it, but I guess it’s the whole method of surveillance these days, it’s sort of a mass collection. To actually individualise that is mission impossible. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, well there’s two things about that. First off, even if GCSB were doing it, which they’re not, that is not investigating these people, ah, they don’t have the resources for it. Nor actually does the NSA.

    GE: ok, if we could just back up a bit, because if I think what you’ve just said is pretty interesting… are you saying then, are you agreeing and acknowledging that thousands or tens of thousands of NZers who’ve been travelling in the Pacific or been in the Pacific have had their personal information passed to the NSA?

    BF: data collection in that respect, if you’re going to try and individualise data collection, it is mission impossible. It’s sort of like whitebaiting and trying to catch one whitebait, you can’t do it, and within the net you’ll get inangas and all sorts of other things, so… it’s a mass collection, but the GCSB law and the way they’ve acted, certainly in my time and I’ve got one… I’m very convinced that they’re exactly the same now, they do not, willingly and intentionally spy on NZers.

    to 1:42

    • weka 15.1
      6 March 2015 at 7:30 pm

      GE: ok, but I repeat that question, because I think it’s important, whether inadvertantly or not, pick your analogies about eels or whatever, NZ’s personal information, NZers’ personal emails, communications of some sort have found their way to the NSA.

      BF: Well if you read the new Act, Guyon, that’s exactly what

      GE: I have read the new Act… (talking over each other)

      BF: that’s what it is then structured to allow for, there will from time to time be inadvertent collection, mass collection of these things, but the Act specifies that they cannot then use that information, they can’t, unless they’ve got specific reasons to use it against NZ they can’t use it.

      GE: ok, and I’ll go on to there and we have made some progress. So you’re saying that there is mass collection of NZ personal data that is transferred to the NSA?

      BF: I didn’t not say that, I said that if indeed that was happening, it may be mission impossible to try and bring out individuals within it, ah…

      GE: ok, I’m not trying to put words in your own mouth,

      BF: well I think you are,

      GE: well here’s your opportunity, free and fair, is this statement true? There is mass collection of NZer’s personal data that ends up in the hands of the NSA if they’re in countries like the Pacific. Is that true or false?

      BF: look, I’m not in a position to say that is actually true or false,

      GE: well you’re in a very good position with respect Sir Bruce, because you the head of the GCSB from 2006 to 2011.

      BF: yep, and the mass, I guess the mass collection, I come back to the point, you cannot these days just actually individually select people. If you’re going to, you put out a big net, you catch stuff, you throw out the stuff you don’t want, you discard it, you get rid of it, you eliminate it, and you keep the stuff you do want. That’s basically an analogy I’ll use, there is no other way round the collection of individual data.

      GE: ok, I think you’ve answered that question, so it is collected en masse, and then you filter out what you don’t want right?

      BF: that would be a normal way of all nations collecting intelligence.

      to 3:43

      • weka 15.1.1
        6 March 2015 at 7:55 pm

        GE: how would you… possibly… filter out those innocent NZers which would 99% be. How would that be done?

        BF: you simply don’t need the information. You might be targeting one individual amongst all that, he might be a money launderer, he might be a drug smuggler. Or she might be. So you’re after that individual amongst all the other mish mash trash etc, you just eliminate it.

        GE: but those people, who are the trash, those people have had their personal communications stored by the NSA. So while they may not be the target of any investigation right now, their information is there, and could be looked back at, right?

        BF: aaaahm, look, the other day I went to Countdown, I bought some ham. Yesterday I got an email from Countdown saying we’ve got more ham on sale. How does that happen? Did they collect my information and use it? That’s my personal information.

        GE: yes, but I tell you what, I’d be a lot more um interested and perhaps concerned if authorities in the NSA had my information than I would if my local supermarket had the information.

        BF: well I don’t think your concern is actually relevant. I’ve been to the NSA several times, they have huge other issues on their hands, they’re not the remote bit interested in what’s happening down here for 99.95% of whatever,

        GE: so why are we giving them mass communications from NZ citizens who are in the Pacific then?

        BF: all sorts of intelligence could be used, and I think it’s been well canvassed this week in the news. The South East Pacific is actually of quite a lot of interest to a lot of countries. Australia, NZ, United States, France, China, there’s a lot of activity going on there. We want to know what’s going on, to safeguard not only us, but the nations in the Pacific. We are actually a benefactor for them to try make certain that they are safe and secure. Ah, this is not some nefarious attack on the Pacific Islands, it’s actually helping them. And helping us, and helping our friends and allies… for the security there.

        GE: ok… and indeed it has been going on, monitoring for quite some time. We’ve all acknowledged that that has been happening for a long time. According to this information that’s come out this week, what changed was that in July of 2009, the documents say, we move to what’s called ‘full take’ collection. Can you explain to me, given that you were the head of the GCSB at that time, what that phrase means, what does ‘full take’ collection mean?

        BF: it basically means, as I was saying, the analogy of whitebaiting, you put a net in the water, you catch what comes into the net and you get rid of everything you don’t want which is probably almost all of it, and then you itemise it down. You might well be looking for someone like a drug smuggler, money launderers. In amongst all of that, that’s the target, the rest of it is just discarded.

        GE: so there is mass, that is mass surveillance then?

        BF: well that’s been admitted hasn’t it? That’s why the Act has been changed Guyon, to actually allow it to be absolutely transparent and legal.

        GE: ok, so we are getting somewhere. So what we have, after this conversation, we have mass surveillance of NZers in the Pacific, and then we are led to believe that somehow someone weeds out and destroys all the information that relates to innocent NZ citizens. Have I got that right?

        BF: well certainly any weeding out, NZers will not be targeted if there is no reason to be targeted. That is absolute in law right through my time, no NZer to my knowledge was targeted, exception I guess is people mumble mumble in my time, something Dotcom. But nobody was targeted illegally. It has to be done legally and I’m 100% confident that that is exactly what GCSB is doing right now. The Prime Minister is right, he’s been given assurances and I back those assurances up, certainly from my time. Nothing illegal is happening there.

        GE: well thank-you very much for joining us on Morning Report, we do really appreciate your time talking us through that. That is the former director of the GCSB, Sir Bruce Ferguson.

        to end (7:35).

        • mickysavage 15.1.1.1
          6 March 2015 at 8:03 pm

          Supreme deity bless/bestow benefits on you Weka. A resource worth preserving.

          • weka 15.1.1.1.1
            6 March 2015 at 8:10 pm

            Thanks 🙂

            The whole thing is extremely ripe for satire. Or desk/head banging.

            • miravox 15.1.1.1.1.1
              7 March 2015 at 10:17 am

              Great job Weka!
              “The whole thing is extremely ripe for satire. “

              Especially this bit, I reckon

              [NSA are] not the remote bit interested in what’s happening down here for 99.95% of whatever…

              …all sorts of intelligence could be used, and I think it’s been well canvassed this week in the news. The South East Pacific is actually of quite a lot of interest to a lot of countries.

              He seems to not know whether to play down the data collection or brag about how important it all is.

              • weka …
                7 March 2015 at 10:46 am

                I know, and we’re spying on them for their own good anyway!

                Re the contradiction, I couldn’t tell if he was just not well prepared, or if it was deliberate obfuscation. I tend to think the latter, because pretty much all of his replies were diversionary or answering without answering (the interview was twice as long as it needed to be).

                I like how we are all whitebait. And innocent NZers are mishmash trash. And how the security services of another nation state having all metadata on me because the NZ govt stole it and passed it on is the same as Countdown having my email address and shopping records because I’ve given them permission to have them. I think the ham example was perhaps the most disingenuous part of the interview, although saying it’s all legal is a close second.

                • r0b …
                  7 March 2015 at 5:42 pm

                  Fantastic work Weka. I’m happy to abandon my own half completed effort – thanks!

                  • weka …
                    7 March 2015 at 11:15 pm

                    Oops, I thought that might happen (only the other way, with me posting to find someone had already done it). Would it have helped if I had said I was doing it? I mentioned to Alaister below that maybe we need a system for crowdsourcing transcriptions and checking in so we don’t double up.

        • veutoviper 15.1.1.2
          7 March 2015 at 9:37 am

          Excellent work, weka!

          Scoop Editor, Alastair Thompson, has also now provided a full transcript on Scoop as part of his opinion on what Ferguson said and how it contradicts Key’s various statements over the past year or so. Well worth reading.

          http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1503/S00045/former-gcsb-director-admits-to-mass-surveillance-of-nzers.htm

          Their transcript is at the bottom of the article. I haven’t compared it with yours.

          • weka 15.1.1.2.1
            7 March 2015 at 10:46 am

            Cheers veuto. I think they left out all the ums and ahs 😉

          • alastair thompson 15.1.1.2.2
            7 March 2015 at 2:48 pm

            If I had seen that Weka it would have saved me quite a bit of time 🙂 That said the act of transcribing does get you inside the words. And in this case the forms of evasion and moments of clarity are quite intricate.

            • weka 15.1.1.2.2.1
              7 March 2015 at 11:13 pm

              Vice versa! Maybe next time we need a system for checking in with who is going to do the transcribing. I liked r0b’s crowdsourcing idea, but in the end I got in a flow and just did the whole thing. Like you I found the act of transcribing to really bring home what was being said.

  16. les 16
    6 March 2015 at 8:04 pm

    John Spy…’trust us…we know what we’re doing’….and voters buy it!

  17. ropata:rorschach 17
    7 March 2015 at 9:41 am

    Upload the interview to Youtube; you’ll get a free transcript out of it. It gets some words wrong but it catches everything (much like the GCSB)

    • veutoviper 17.1
      7 March 2015 at 10:54 am

      As well as the great work weka did providing a transcript at 15, 15,1 etc above, a full transcript is also available on Scoop as per the link I provided at 15.1.1.2 above.

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    As we invest in our public transport network, it’s critical that we not only invest in transformative projects like the City Rail Link, but that we also get as much use as we can out of the network we already have – which will also maximise the outcomes of those ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    21 hours ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Ten reasons Labour’s support has halved
    The Labour Government was elected with 50 per cent of the vote three years ago, but current opinion polls show their vote could halve in this year’s election, which would be one of the biggest plunges in political history. Most polls have Labour on about 26 per cent. And the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    22 hours ago

  • Elizabeth Rata: Two Treaties of Waitangi: The Articles Treaty and the Principles Treaty
    Commentary There are two versions of the Treaty of Waitangi.  The first is the 1840 Treaty – the ‘Articles Treaty’. The second is what I call the ‘Principles Treaty’. It dates from 1986 when the principles were first included in legislation. Astonishingly the parliamentary representatives who inserted the word ‘principles’ ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    22 hours ago

  • Climate Emergency!
    It’s hard not to become a bit blasé towards climate change headlines. Flooding kills hundreds - blah. Catastrophic droughts - blah blah. One-in-a-hundred year events happening every year - blah blah blah.The earth had its highest temperature on record - again. Think we’ve read that one.So many articles telling us ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    22 hours ago

  • The Kākā Project: The economics of sufficiency
    The Kākā’s climate correspondent and had a chat with environmental historian and author Catherine Knight about why ‘feel good' actions like recycling and owning an electric car are unlikely to be enough to create a transition to zero emissions, let alone a just one. Knight says comments like ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago

  • Chippy misses a chance
    National leader Christopher Luxon has pulled out of any rescheduling of tonight’s Press debate, which has had to be cancelled because Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has Covid. The cancellation has given National an excuse to avoid a debate, which was always going to be a risk for Luxon. But ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago

  • The Angry Majority.
    The People's Champion vs The People's Prosecutor: It is the news media’s job to elicit information from politicians – not to prosecute them. Peters’ promise to sort out TVNZ should be believed. If he finds himself in a position to carry out his threat, then it will only be because ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago

  • Verrall is chuffed by govt’s latest push into pay equity while Woods enthuses about an $11m spend ...
    Buzz from the Beehive The headline on a ministerial press statement curiously expresses the government’s position when it declares:   Government shows further commitment to pay equity for healthcare workers. Is it not enough to declare just one commitment? Or is the government’s commitment to pay equity being declared sector by ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • A very worthy coalition partner for Seymour and Luxon
    There have been 53 New Zealand Parliaments so far. The 39th of them was elected in 1978. It was a parliament of 92 MPs, most of them men. The New Zealand Music Awards that year named John Rowles Male Vocalist of the Year and — after a short twelve months ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Labour still protecting the status quo
    Aotearoa has a cost of living crisis. And one of the major drivers of this crisis is the supermarket duopoly, who gouge every dollar they can out of us. Last year, the Commerce Commission found that the duopoly was in fact anti-competititve, giving the government social licence to fix the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on National’s myths about the desolated state of the economy
    Familiarity breeds consent. If you repeat the line “six years of economic mis-management” about 10,000 times, it sounds like the received wisdom, whatever the evidence to the contrary. Yes, the global pandemic and the global surge in inflation that came in its wake occurred here as well – but if ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Hapless Hipkins and his racism
    Michael Bassett writes – Without so much as batting an eyelid, Chris Hipkins told an audience on Saturday that there had been “more racism” in this election campaign than ever before. And he blamed it on the opposition parties, National, Act and New Zealand First. In those ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON: The ‘recession’ has been called off, but some households are still struggling
    While the economy is not doing too badly in output terms, external circumstances are not favourable, and there is probably a sizeable group of households struggling because of rising interest rates. Brian Easton writes – Last week’s announcement of a 0.9 percent increase in volume GDP for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Monday’s Chorus: Richie Poulton's lament
    “You can't really undo what happens during childhood”, said the director of the Dunedin longitudinal study. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Richie Poulton, the director of the world-leading Dunedin longitudinal study showing how devastating poverty in early life is, died yesterday. With his final words, he lamented the lack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • North-western downgrades
    This is a guest post from reader Peter N As many of us know, Auckland Transport and Waka Kotahi are well into progressing works on the northwestern interim “busway” with services to kick off in just over a month from now on Sunday 12th November 2023. Some of the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago

  • Has Webworm Found New Zealand’s Weirdest School?
    Hi,Before we talk about weird schools people choose to send their kids to, a few things on my mind. I adored the Ask Me Anything we did last week. Thanks for taking part. I love answering your weird and nosy questions, even questions about beans.I am excited and scared as Mister ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • Another mother of a budget
    A National government would make spending cuts on a scale not seen since the 1990 – 96 Bolger government.That much was confirmed with the release of their Fiscal Plan on Friday.Government spending is currently high as a percentage of GDP — as high as it was during the Muldoon ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • A crucial week starts as early voting opens in the NZ Elections … it’s been a ride so far. Are y...
    Chris Hipkins down with Covid, at least for 5 days isolation, National continue to obfuscate, ACT continues to double-down on the poor and Winston… well, he’s being Winston really. Voters beware: this week could be even more infuriating than the last. No Party is what they used to be ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    2 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #39
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 24, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 30, 2023. Story of the Week We’re not doomed yet’: climate scientist Michael Mann on our last chance to save human civilisation The renowned US ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Clusterf**ck of Chaos.
    On the 11th of April 1945 advancing US forces liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald near Weimar in Germany. In the coming days, under the order of General Patton, a thousand nearby residents were forced to march to the camp to see the atrocities that had been committed in ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • The party of business deals with the future by pretending it isn’t coming
    Years and years ago, when Helen Clark was Prime Minister and John Key was gunning for her job, I had a conversation with a mate, a trader who knew John Key well enough to paint a helpful picture.It was many drinks ago so it’s not a complete one. But there’s ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • 2023 More Reading: September (+ Old Phuul update)
    Completed reads for September: The Lost Continent, by C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne Flatland, by Edwin Abbott All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque The Country of the Blind, by H.G. Wells The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    4 days ago

  • Losing The Left.
    Descending Into The Dark: The ideological cadres currently controlling both Labour and the Greens are forcing “justice”, “participation” and “democracy” to make way for what is “appropriate” and “responsible”. But, where does that leave the people who, for most of their adult lives, have voted for left-wing parties, precisely to ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago

  • The New “Emperor’s New Clothes”.
    “‘BUT HE HASN’T GOT ANYTHING ON,’ a little boy said ….. ‘But he hasn’t got anything on!’ the whole town cried out at last.”On this optimistic note, Hans Christian Andersen brings his cautionary tale of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” to an end.Andersen’s children’s story was written nearly two centuries ago, ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago

  • BRYCE EDWARDS: The vested interests shaping National Party policies
      Bryce Edwards writes – As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: A conundrum for those pushing racist dogma
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – The heavily promoted narrative, which has ramped up over the last six years, is that Maori somehow have special vulnerabilities which arise from outside forces they cannot control; that contemporary society fails to meet their needs. They are not receptive to messages and ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER:  The greater of two evils
    Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.   Chris Trotter writes – THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 30
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Labour presented a climate manifesto that aimed to claim the high ground on climate action vs National, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Litanies, articles of faith, and being a beneficiary
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Litanies, articles of faith, and being a beneficiary
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • The ‘Recession’ Has Been Called Off, But Some Households Are Still Struggling
    While the economy is not doing too badly in output terms, external circumstances are not favourable, and there is probably a sizeable group of households struggling because of rising interest rates.Last week’s announcement of a 0.9 percent increase in volume GDP for the June quarter had the commentariat backing down ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago

  • Climate Change: The wrong direction
    This week the International Energy Association released its Net Zero Roadmap, intended to guide us towards a liveable climate. The report demanded huge increases in renewable generation, no new gas or oil, and massive cuts to methane emissions. It was positive about our current path, but recommended that countries with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • “Racism” becomes a buzz word on the campaign trail – but our media watchdogs stay muzzled when...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Oh, dear.  We have nothing to report from the Beehive. At least, we have nothing to report from the government’s official website. But the drones have not gone silent.  They are out on the election campaign trail, busy buzzing about this and that in the hope ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Play it, Elvis
    Election Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t have time for. You’re welcome, etc. Let us press on, etc. 1.  What did Christopher Luxon use to his advantage in ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Pure class warfare
    National unveiled its fiscal policy today, announcing all the usual things which business cares about and I don't. But it did finally tell us how National plans to pay for its handouts to landlords: by effectively cutting benefits: The biggest saving announced on Friday was $2b cut from the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Ask Me Anything about the week to Sept 29
    Photo by Anna Ogiienko on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour, including:duelling fiscal plans from National and Labour;Labour cutting cycling spending while accusing National of being weak on climate;Research showing the need for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 29-September-2023
    Welcome to Friday and the last one for September. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt highlighted at the latest with the City Rail Link. On Tuesday, Matt covered the interesting items from Auckland Transport’s latest board meeting agendas. On Thursday, a guest post from Darren Davis ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago

  • Protest at Parliament: The Reunion.
    Brian’s god spoke to him. He, for of course the Lord in Tamaki’s mind was a male god, with a mighty rod, and probably some black leathers. He, told Brian - “you must put a stop to all this love, hope, and kindness”. And it did please the Brian.He said ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Labour cuts $50m from cycleway spending
    Labour is cutting spending on cycling infrastructure while still trying to claim the higher ground on climate. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Labour Government released a climate manifesto this week to try to claim the high ground against National, despite having ignored the Climate Commission’s advice to toughen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • The Greater Of Two Evils.
    Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very rarely is an opposition party elected ...
    Bowalley Road
    5 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #39 2023
    Open access notables "Net zero is only a distraction— we just have to end fossil fuel emissions." The latter is true but the former isn't, or  not in the real world as it's likely to be in the immediate future. And "just" just doesn't enter into it; we don't have ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Chris Trotter: Losing the Left
    IN THE CURRENT MIX of electoral alternatives, there is no longer a credible left-wing party. Not when “a credible left-wing party” is defined as: a class-oriented, mass-based, democratically-structured political organisation; dedicated to promoting ideas sharply critical of laissez-faire capitalism; and committed to advancing democratic, egalitarian and emancipatory ideals across the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Hipkins fires up in leaders’ debate, but has the curtain already fallen on the Labour-led coalitio...
    Labour’s  Chris Hipkins came out firing, in the  leaders’ debate  on Newshub’s evening programme, and most of  the pundits  rated  him the winner against National’s  Christopher Luxon. But will this make any difference when New  Zealanders  start casting their ballots? The problem  for  Hipkins is  that  voters are  all too ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago

  • Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a di...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Not long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”. The ministers were dishing ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW: Election 2023 – a totemic & charisma failure?
    The D&W analysis Michael Grimshaw writes –  Given the apathy, disengagement, disillusionment, and all-round ennui of this year’s general election, it was considered time to bring in those noted political operatives and spin doctors D&W, the long-established consultancy firm run by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Known for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • FROM BFD: Will Winston be the spectre we think?
    Kissy kissy. Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD. JC writes-  Allow me to preface this contribution with the following statement: If I were asked to express a preference between a National/ACT coalition or a National/ACT/NZF coalition then it would be the former. This week Luxon declared his position, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • California’s climate disclosure bill could have a huge impact across the U.S.
    This re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Andy Furillo was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The California Legislature took a step last week that has the potential to accelerate the fight against climate ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Untangling South East Queensland’s Public Transport
    This is a cross post Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis. I recently visited Brisbane and South East Queensland and came away both impressed while also pondering some key changes to make public transport even better in the region. Here goes with my take on things. A bit of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    6 days ago

  • Try A Little Kindness.
    My daughter arrived home from the supermarket yesterday and she seemed a bit worried about something. It turned out she wanted to know if someone could get her bank number from a receipt.We wound the story back.She was in the store and there was a man there who was distressed, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • What makes NZFirst tick
    New Zealand’s longest-running political roadshow rolled into Opotiki yesterday, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters knowing another poll last night showed he would make it back to Parliament and National would need him and his party if they wanted to form a government. The Newshub Reid Research poll ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • September AMA
    Hi,As September draws to a close — I feel it’s probably time to do an Ask Me Anything. You know how it goes: If you have any burning questions, fire away in the comments and I will do my best to answer. You might have questions about Webworm, or podcast ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • Bludgers lying in the scratcher making fools of us all
    The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving. They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement wit...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements.  There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • ALEX HOLLAND: Labour’s spending
    Alex Holland writes –  In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • If not now, then when?
    Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • THE FACTS:  77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
    The Facts has posted –        KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
    The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    7 days ago

  • Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so critical
    New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Bennie Bashing.
    If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • The kindest cuts
    Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
    While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    1 week ago

  • At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • How could this happen?
    Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    1 week ago

  • Youth justice programme expands to break cycle of offending
    The successful ‘Circuit Breaker’ fast track programme designed to stop repeat youth offending was launched in two new locations today by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis. The programme, first piloted in West and South Auckland in December last year, is aimed at children aged 10-13 who commit serious offending or continue ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago

  • Major milestone with 20,000 employers using Apprenticeship Boost
    The Government’s Apprenticeship Boost initiative has now supported 20,000 employers to help keep on and train up apprentices, Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni announced in Christchurch today. Almost 62,000 apprentices have been supported to start and keep training for a trade since the initiative was introduced in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Government supporting wood processing jobs and more diverse industry
    The Government is supporting non-pine tree sawmilling and backing further job creation in sawmills in Rotorua and Whangarei, Forestry Minister Peeni Henare said.   “The Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan identified the need to add more diversity to our productions forests, wood products and markets,” Peeni Henare said. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Government backing Canterbury’s future in aerospace industry
    The Government is helping Canterbury’s aerospace industry take off with further infrastructure support for the Tāwhaki Aerospace Centre at Kaitorete, Infrastructure Minister Dr Megan Woods has announced. “Today I can confirm we will provide a $5.4 million grant to the Tāwhaki Joint Venture to fund a sealed runway and hangar ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Updated forestry regulations increase council controls and require large slash removal
    Local councils will have more power to decide where new commercial forests – including carbon forests – are located, to reduce impacts on communities and the environment, Environment Minister David Parker said today. “New national standards give councils greater control over commercial forestry, including clear rules on harvesting practices and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago

  • New Zealand resumes peacekeeping force leadership
    New Zealand will again contribute to the leadership of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, with a senior New Zealand Defence Force officer returning as Interim Force Commander. Defence Minister Andrew Little and Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta have announced the deployment of New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New national direction provides clarity for development and the environment
    The Government has taken an important step in implementing the new resource management system, by issuing a draft National Planning Framework (NPF) document under the new legislation, Environment Minister David Parker said today. “The NPF consolidates existing national direction, bringing together around 20 existing instruments including policy statements, standards, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government shows further commitment to pay equity for healthcare workers
    The Government welcomes the proposed pay equity settlement that will see significant pay increases for around 18,000 Te Whatu Ora Allied, Scientific, and Technical employees, if accepted said Health Minister Ayesha Verrall. The proposal reached between Te Whatu Ora, the New Zealand Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • 100 new public EV chargers to be added to national network
    The public EV charging network has received a significant boost with government co-funding announced today for over 100 EV chargers – with over 200 charging ports altogether – across New Zealand, and many planned to be up and running on key holiday routes by Christmas this year. Minister of Energy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Safeguarding Tuvalu language and identity
    Tuvalu is in the spotlight this week as communities across New Zealand celebrate Vaiaso o te Gagana Tuvalu – Tuvalu Language Week. “The Government has a proven record of supporting Pacific communities and ensuring more of our languages are spoken, heard and celebrated,” Pacific Peoples Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Many ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households
    Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Huge boost to Te Tai Tokerau flood resilience
    The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Napier’s largest public housing development comes with solar
    The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
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