The Government’s finances are in very good shape

Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, December 17th, 2020 - 66 comments
Categories: climate change, debt / deficit, Economy, employment, grant robertson, housing, International, Keynes, labour, poverty - Tags:

These are in remarkably good shape.  Who would have predicted that dealing properly with a global pandemic would have had better results for the economy than timidly dealing with it and trying to ensure that economic activity continued?

And that making baby boomers stay home and spend their wealth on new kitchens or meals out or local holidays would be much better for the economy than spending the money on overseas holidays or overseas luxuries?

Whatever the reason the country’s figures are looking remarkably good.

From Radio New Zealand:

A faster and stronger economic rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic will see the government’s finances headed back to surplus sooner than expected, according to the Treasury.

The half year economic and fiscal update (HYEFU) shows lower budget deficits over the next four years as a strong tax take and lower expenses bolster the government’s finances.

“While New Zealand’s economy contracted in 2020 it is forecast to rebound strongly in 2021, outperforming regions we compare ourselves to like the Euro Zone, the United Kingdom and Japan,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said.

Economic growth is forecast to be 1.5 percent in the year to June next year compared with a slight contraction forecast in the September pre-election update.

Unemployment is expected to peak at 6.8 percent in 2022 and then decline over the next three years to about 4 percent, compared to a 7.7 percent peak forecast in September.

The lower jobless rate was expected to reduce social welfare benefit costs as well as boost the tax take, which would also benefit from higher GST and corporate tax revenue.

“The fiscal position is still challenging,” Robertson said.

However, higher income and lower costs are expected to see smaller budget deficits.

Net debt is now forecast to peak at 52.6 percent of GDP in 2023 down from the PREFU prediction of 56%.  If you look overseas the current figure for Germany is 60%, the UK is 81%, France is 97%, the United States is 107%, Italy is 135% and Japan is an eye watering 237%.

These figures provide a lot of fiscal headroom.  Which is why I would urge the Government to consider spending on some areas where there are crises.  Like:

  • Poverty.  Complete the implementation of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group’s 42 recommendations.
  • Climate change.  Build those walkways and cycleways and get rid of those coal boilers.  And while they are at it build light rail.
  • The housing crisis.  Get on with the building of tens of thousands of good quality homes of varying sizes that suit all shapes and sizes of kiwi families.

This Government has the opportunity to be completely transformational.  Now is not the time to hold back and look for a middle way.  Now is the time to be brave.  Let’s do this.

66 comments on “The Government’s finances are in very good shape ”

  1. Sabine 1

    oh yeah?

    Tell that to the Sally Army, to all the community food banks, the families that will have nothing for christmas and so on and so forth.

    Oh right, that will be next on the list, maybe something to promise with the next election cycle.

    But hey, boomers who don't need it are buying new kitchens, while others sleep and live in cars next to the few public toilets still available near rugby fields.

    Good grief, this is tone deaf beyond believe.

    • SPC 1.1

      You may have skipped right over

      These figures provide a lot of fiscal headroom. Which is why I would urge the Government to consider spending on some areas where there are crises. Like:

      Poverty. Complete the implementation of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group’s 42 recommendations.

      Climate change. Build those walkways and cycleways and get rid of those coal boilers. And while they are at it build light rail.

      The housing crisis. Get on with the building of tens of thousands of good quality homes of varying sizes that suit all shapes and sizes of kiwi families.

      • Sabine 1.1.1

        Mickey might be urging the government to do stuff,

        sadly the government don't give no fucks nor shits and does very little.

        As i said, wishfull thinking never fed anyon e, never housed anyone, and certainly never did lift up those that need money more then anything else.

        But maybe the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future will visist these empty suits and they will drop a few dollars and second bowl of soup to the poor children of poor adults that have not got enough.

        Oh right, they ruled that out. So not gonna happen.

        • SPC 1.1.1.1

          Sure, there is a lack of immediate proactivity.

          The government rides out the pandemic, secures the election win by being acceptable to the middle class and then waits for the new year and the next budget round to respond to growing and acute hardship (referring to past actions to help for now).

          The ship of state is what it is.

    • woodart 1.2

      actually, YOU are tone deaf. do you come on here prepared to whinge, or do you have to work at it.?I have never seen any constructive critisism from you, just incessant whingeing. not at all helpful . constructive critisism would be mentioning free dental care, or restructuring beneficiary tax rates for part time work. not just whingeing…..

      • SPC 1.2.1

        The worth of the increase in amount that beneficiaries can earn before the abatement at 70 cents in the dollar will come through when there is more part-time employment as we come out of this pandemic.

    • Adrian Thornton 1.3

      +1 @Sabine, now brace yourself for the Labour sycophants to come on and barate you for actually demanding real progressive change now…..however that is just a fantasy or course, we all know that the so called middle classes is who and what Labour has really come to represent…first and foremost, that is just a plain fact born out of Labours own actions and policies (or lack of either as the case maybe)…

      Labour’s landslide election win was “inspirational” and will create even more excitement in property, says Auckland real estate millionaire Don Ha.

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/123141018/house-prices-set-to-keep-soaring-after-labours-inspirational-win

      Jacinda Ardern says 'sustained moderation' remains the Government's goal when it comes to house prices, as people 'expect' the value of their most valuable asset to keep rising

      https://www.interest.co.nz/property/108301/pm-jacinda-ardern-says-sustained-moderation-remains-governments-goal-when-it-comes

      And to add insult to injury that prick Grant Robertson who had his University education for free is happy to burden all our children with huge debt for that same privilege….and then the rents this generation have to pay while they are studying are fucking obscene…but not it seems to this lot, no they are busy normalizing it all.

      • James Thrace 1.3.1

        Grant Robertson was part of the first generation of student loan payers, coupled with interest on his loan while he was studying.

        Hardly "free"

        • Sabine 1.3.1.1

          and then he joined government and did nothing to make it easier on people that have it harder then himself.

        • Adrian Thornton 1.3.1.2

          Thanks for correcting me there, my bad.

          However my point still stands, straddling our youth with debt for education…what else do you need say about the ugly Liberal political ideology that Robertson is the cheerleader of? I mean seriously it is about as a low brow, bottom feeding, short term thinking political ideology that has existed…

          Typical of this Liberal view on education…it's always a race to bottom with this lot, Labour and National are as bad as each other….

          71 Massey professors hit out over controversial science shake-up

          https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/71-massey-professors-hit-out-over-controversial-science-shake-up/QFMKVCY7QS5G2VPAE32BCQDVJA/

          • Siobhan 1.3.1.2.1

            Don't feel too bad….For some reason 'statsNZ' is "Closed"..but if you google "Average Student Loan Leaving Debt' (Image) and squint really hard, you will get some idea of how much individual student debt has increased since 1992….so while not free, Robinson enjoyed a far far easier debt burden than students over the last 20 years…

      • gsays 1.3.2

        How to tell if you are a Labour sycophant number 1:

        You view a 'surplus' as good management.

  2. Pat 2

    The governments finances are in 'good' shape as long as the international financiers deem them so…and in an economy reliant on imports to function that approval is critical, sadly.

    • Ad 2.1

      The overseas banks and rating agencies adore us.

    • Tricledrown 2.2

      Tough times for every country our balance of payments is the best in years cheap oil low demand now vaccines are becoming available our country starts at a much higher point of economic activity than most so will grow faster than most it will be at least 18 months plus before the economy fully recovers.

      • Incognito 2.2.1

        Do you ever read replies to your comments and if so, why don’t you respond to those replies? It’s a weird way of ‘engaging’!?

    • Nic the NZer 2.3

      What exactly do you think happens if financiers stop rating NZ? They are irrelevant and corrupt to boot.

      In Australia some states have been downgraded to AA+ from AAA. Meanwhile the countries central bank governor has been telling them that the important thing is states supporting economic growth and they shouldn't worry about credit ratings because their central bank has their back anyway.

      • Pat 2.3.1

        The RBNZ only issues NZD…and that buys sweet FA…unless you happen to think you can have an operating first world economy that runs on milk powder, logs, wine and fruit.

        And credit ratings agencies may well be corrupt but they hold sway over the desirability of the NZD…..unless again you believe what we have to offer the world is so unique and desirable that we can ignore the fact that for 40 years we havnt managed to convince anyone of that to the tune of billions shortfall a year.

        So by all means ignore the credit ratings agencies and the capital markets if you are prepared to restrict everyones access to all those things they expect/demand…..something tells me you would be neither up front about about such and also well insulated from the effects or you wouldnt be so enthusiastic about its imposition

        • Nic the NZer 2.3.1.1

          So the credit rating agencies are going to lock us out of foreign exchange markets, is apparently the mechanism.

          However should we really be getting permission from offshore private finance firms before undertaking cycleway building, removing coal boilers or responding to climate change? I am going to suggest that is extremely dodgy belief. New Zealand is more than capable of doing those kinds of things for itself of course.

          As to the evidence (which you present) after 40 years of trade deficits its clear these guys are either not that fussed or not that influential.

          • Pat 2.3.1.1.1

            The credit ratings agencies dont lock you out (you usually lock yourself out) but they can cause you to be priced out which has the same effect.

            I doubt that cycleways or coal boilers are on the list of concerns and responding to climate change would I expect only be an issue if handled poorly…as to our capability, it has steadily reduced to the point where we are unable to manage a basic residential construction programme without outside input so I wouldnt be so confident …certainly in the short/medium term, without a considerable period of investment in improving that local capability.

            Not that fussed?…theyve extracted a pretty good return to date and own over half the countries assets in return, not to mention having considerable influence over policy …change those parameters and see how fussed they are.

            • Nic the NZer 2.3.1.1.1.1

              There is just something very inconsistent about these claims about the need for New Zealand to have to run trade surpluses (or else).

              As you noted the country has a pretty long standing record of not running trade surpluses and the or else doesn't appear to be happening.

              As for the claim that credit rating agencies own over half the countries assets, I mean in which alternate universe? Please do give us the link and send it on to the overseas investment office while your at it.

  3. aj 3

    This morning RNZ nat's financial spokesman Woodhouse . . . 'the governments finances are just like a household'…. blah blah blah. The last 30yrs of neoliberalism set in stone

    • Siobhan 3.1

      All the more weird and downright delusional/dishonest a comparison given that Households Debt To Income in New Zealand is at 163.80 percent and yet we have a housing policy designed to encourage even more debt….

    • Phillip ure 3.2

      woodhouse sounded like a voice from a long distant past..

  4. tc 4

    There's never been a better time to crack onto the 3 bullet points in your piece Mickey.

    Finances, Political capital, majority in the house, plenty of the term left to make an impact and sell it before next election.

    Get on with it labour !
    P.S. you. may want to look at RNZ handing the likes of woodhouse a soapbox rather than facing some tough questions. Not something nat pollys are used to from the msm.

  5. "Climate change. Build those walkways and cycleways and get rid of those coal boilers. And while they are at it build light rail."

    Woah, woah there…hold your horses Mickysavage..we don't want to get too radical about dealing with climate change and the deepening crisis of trapped babyboomers running out of new cycle paths to explore.

  6. RedBaronCV 6

    Yeah sure the government should spend some cash on the entrenched problems – they need it. It could also tax the upper wealth more to get the deficit paid back faster ready for the next disaster.

    BUT above all it needs to change the background settings that caused a lot of these issues so they don't reoccur in the short term. Everything from excessive immigration to serious labour market reform to booting unproductive overseas investment – which would be most of it in our houses and farms to removing the local oligopolies in power and telecommunications. and whatever else I haven't thought of.

    I don't see any appetite for that at any level too much Tony Blair in high heels.

  7. Ad 7

    Minister of Finance Robertson and the Treasury team should be congratulated.

    We remain at just over 5% unemployed, and with an underutilisation rate of 13% the right low paid and low value jobs in low productivity industries are getting squeezed the hardest: tourism and hospitality.

    We have no massive rise in mortgagee sales.

    We have a popular and effective government who is managing the economy very well.

    New Zealand is also within the set of countries where Covid-19 is controlled and also where economies are recovering.

    That's about as good a push into 2021 as anyone could wish for.

    • aj 7.1

      That's about as good a push into 2021 as anyone could wish for.

      True. And we need this to provide a payout for ALL kiwis.

    • Pat 7.2

      "We have no massive rise in mortgagee sales"

      "Since the original guidance was issued in March, many lenders have been supporting customers affected financially by COVID-19. The regulatory guidance means banks can continue to offer temporary mortgage deferrals to their customers, without those loans being viewed as being in default, Deputy Governor and General Manager of Financial Stability Geoff Bascand says.

      The extension takes effect from when the existing guidance expires on 27 September and will apply until 31 March 2021, at which point the usual treatment will resume. Banks will still be able to offer deferrals to borrowers after this date, but they will not have the same concessionary regulatory treatment."

      https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/news/2020/08/reserve-bank-extending-mortgage-deferral-scheme

      Even without the deferral scheme you wouldnt expect mortgagee sales within so short a period.

    • Stuart Munro 7.3

      just over 5% unemployed

      The government that brought in slave fishers doesn't get to pat itself on the back. 5% (assuming the figures aren't juked, and they usually are) find their government is consistently working against their interests by tricks like mass low wage immigration.

      Now would be a good time to put governance on an honest footing, and the best place to start would be with a clear-out of neo-liberal civil servants. Brash didn't lard Treasury with a far-right freakshow for nothing, he was putting a mighty ham-fisted hand on the scale of evidence driven policy. Time it came off.

      • Ad 7.3.1

        We dont have mass low wage immigration now. And not for a while either.

        • Stuart Munro 7.3.1.1

          We've had it for decades, and in direct contravention of our immigration laws – which were selectively not enforced, as is normal in massively corrupt countries.

          Where are the prosecutions for fraudulent visa scams? The Bottle-O guy brought in 107 unskilled workers – there's 107 unemployed kiwis right there. Has he been fined the equivalent of 107 benefits for the working lifetime of those he fraudulently brought in? He has not. The ordinary NZer is paying the cost of his offending – no cost recovery, much less a deterrent. Where is the proceeds of crime seizure of his assets?

          We still have some hundreds of thousand of workers and fake students brought in under Key – it takes a lifetime for unskilled workers to work their way through the economy – the Russian slave workers are still here forty years later.

          Naturally the selective stats used by Treasury won't show that – immigration is an epic good – drives wages and latte costs down, and spruiks the investment property – yippee!

          • Ad 7.3.1.1.1

            You seem closer to this than I am.

            I was referring to Pacific seasonal workers and complaints from farm owners, and tourist businesses anticipating the new flight bubbles.

            • Stuart Munro 7.3.1.1.1.1

              One might expect, when criminal employers are selling residency, which was the fudge factor that made working for an abusive employer desirable or tolerable to 107 unskilled staff who got visas from him, that the civil service entity that always reduces human issues to accounting ones, would have done the maths on all facets of that curious business.

              Were the public service not complicit in allowing such rorts to continue, and keeping their delinquencies out of the public eye that is.

              The Bottle-O guy was merely one of the most public instances of gross abuse; treated as if he'd run up a few parking fines instead of generating substantial human misery and rendering the blithe assumptions upon which policy is made null.

  8. Enough is Enough 8

    Totally agree Mickey. Now is the time to do what needs to be done.

    I will be so dissappointed and disillusioned if we are sitting here in 12 months time still waiting for the structural reforms we desperately need.

    Have a good break Labour MPs. In the new year we expect nothing short of you hitting the ground running and destroying the neo-liberal economy that has caused so much pain over the past 35 years

  9. SPC 9

    The housing crisis. Get on with the building of tens of thousands of good quality homes of varying sizes that suit all shapes and sizes of kiwi families.

    Let's hope the Maori MP's make a big push for delivery of homes (small factory build) onto Maori land. Social housing of this sort would allow older Maori to have somewhere to retire to (iwi homeland community). Many older Maori cannot retire because they have market rents to pay. It would also assist with homelessness in Northland etc. The government costs would be the houses and the infrastructure.

  10. Muttonbird 10

    Yep. If only this government had the courage to deal with the pearl-clutching centre right the same way they dealt with Covid.

  11. Adrian Thornton 11

    OK Mickysavage, how about we take out a little wager on this?…

    You propose the the labour govt implement at least one of the following …

    • Poverty. Complete the implementation of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group’s 42 recommendations.
    • Climate change. Build those walkways and cycleways and get rid of those coal boilers. And while they are at it build light rail.
    • The housing crisis. Get on with the building of tens of thousands of good quality homes of varying sizes that suit all shapes and sizes of kiwi families.

    "This Government has the opportunity to be completely transformational. Now is not the time to hold back and look for a middle way. Now is the time to be brave. Let’s do this."

    So, I would be more than happy to lose this bet, but nonetheless I bet you $50 to go to your (or mine if you lose) favourite charity that none of those three things (not counting cycle paths) are fully implemented within the next three years….or started at such depth that they are irreversible..what say you?

    .

    • SPC 11.1

      Getting rid of coal boilers and building some light rail is doable even for this lot. The three year time frame will be the reason I won't take you up.

      • Adrian Thornton 11.1.1

        I specified in the bet that as long as they had any of those three ideas started to a large degree ( in an irreversible way) I lose…so put your money where your mouth is my friend.

        • SPC 11.1.1.1
          1. I suppose irreversible for light rail means a plan, the purchase of land and a start to construction.

          They have already announced funding to replace some school boilers this term,

          This includes $50 million to replace 90 school coal boilers

          https://www.education.govt.nz/school/property-and-transport/school-facilities/boilers/#replace

          I do not know how many coal boilers there are – schools also use gas and wood chip.

          2. Would a further committment to do more by the end of the 3 years (in the next term) be enough?

          3. Cycle and walkways – yeah they can plan, fund and start those by 2023.

    • Tiger Mountain 11.2

      Your fiddy will be safe Adrian–but no pleasure in that for people in desperate need for the Govt. to do what is clearly needed.

      I really won’t enjoy three years of (justified) whinging about Labour not delivering by some, and three years of piss weak centrists finding a thousand ways to justify Labour not delivering!

      What would be good is working class and allies, getting organised to take on this Govt. not in an all out hostile way, given the current class forces line up in NZ, but in a forceful and strategic way. The money is there “just do it” Labour! If everyone goes all passive, and surly rather than fighting, as per the Clark years, 2023 is potential gift for the right and conspiracists.

    • Ad 11.3

      Just go to Ardern direct on Twitter or Facebook. Propose them to her. See who follows – they will.

  12. Tiger Mountain 12

    I have read Micky Sav on The Standard for many years now and it is no secret that he is a Labour Loyalist, so loyal that he makes some of the bubbly Labour loyalists I know personally, look half hearted. He is a man of the West, lives for Glen Eden and the Waitakere Board, and his dad was a union President.

    So, when Micky says plainly “ Now is not the time to hold back and look for a middle way.” re Poverty, Climate Change and Housing, the Labour Caucus should leap into action because Mr Savage would not say that publicly unless a whole bunch of New Lynn Labour people felt that way too.

    The thing with NZ Labour though, is the Parliamentary wing has without fail that I know of, subordinated the membership, particularly when in office. So even the most genuine behests will have little practical effect–“Jacinda and Robbo are not for turning” from their neo liberal orthodoxy.

    So direct action is needed to shift the Caucus by the working class and NGOs. Rent strikes, occupations of empty houses, community organising, strategic strikes and boycotts, revitalisation of Climate Strikes and school actions, picketing Labour Ministers wherever they turn up, large delegations to the new rural Labour MPs Electorate offices are what will turn the Caucus. Build a campaign to retire neo liberalism for good in 2023!

    • Adrian Thornton 12.1

      @ Tiger Mountain, That seems to be a pretty insightful comment and probably not far off the mark, and your last part is right on the mark, direct action is what is needed alright.

      Turn Labour Left!

    • Ad 12.2

      In my experience you get more done at barbecues.

      But if you want to occupy a derelict house, go for it.

      • Tiger Mountain 12.2.1

        Direct action can deliver as seen every day in a micro sense in multiple settings. “but if we act we might lose…yes, but if you do nothing you will definitely lose”.

        Take historic Takaparawhā (Bastion point) and today–Ihumātao. The latter can go various ways, corporate supporters are obviously in the Māori world too, but at least Iwi members will now determine the outcome. Would not have happened without thousands of supporters ready to act–the Auckland Police were operationally out manoeuvred with their attempted night time clampdown when it became apparent they did not have the numbers.

        So many incremental gains have come from organisation rather than networking among the elite.

        36 years of institutional neo liberal theory and practice, where every human activity imaginable has been reduced to a transaction, where many New Zealanders know their Fly Buys Points, but would not have a clue what they should be paid for working a Public Holiday, is surely a mountain to climb, but passivity is not the needed response to this Govt.’s bourgeois paralysis. Jacinda is running some sort of “Chicago Boys” programme, while holding a ridiculous MMP majority.

        For a few amazing weeks the PM put public health before private profit–they need to make that the default setting. But it will not happen without working class action.

        • Ad 12.2.1.1

          Go for it!

          1 win every 45 years seems fair return.

          • Tiger Mountain 12.2.1.1.1

            Class struggle is cumulative actually, advances won are extended to other generations as long as they are defended and extended.

            Sick Leave barely existed in an enforceable way until the Northern Drivers Union won it in 1968, Redundancy Pay won by locked out Mangere Bridge workers in 1982, Paid Parental Leave, Homosexual law reform, Gay Marriage, Nuke Free NZ–all resulted from community organisation and action. Pay Equity and resulting life changing training and pay opportunities, and the $20 minimum wage are further examples of taking action getting results.

            • Ad 12.2.1.1.1.1

              If you are interpreting Ihumatao as a class struggle you are deeply misguided.

              • Tiger Mountain

                Failed attempt to deflect from my point about working class wins sticking.

                In a class society with a division of labour, and private ownership and appropriation of socially produced wealth, most actions involving post colonial fall out and challenging corporate behaviour, definitely are class struggle.

                • Ad

                  The book No Right Turn by Chris Trotter documents how wrong that set of assumptions has been over our history.

                  Your examples conflate working class struggle with generalised civic activism.

                  In one of the most unequal societies in the world, our activisms are now minor and managerialist.

                  • Tiger Mountain

                    Using Mr Trotter, who I have known for approaching 40 years now as backup, shows how ill equiped you are to talk about class struggle. Chris is an articulate historian, but he vacillates like many academics and long distance columnists in search of the next payment–and who can blame him for that in one way.

                    You really don’t seem to understand what a class analysis of society is Ad.

  13. Maurice 13

    We the peasants have not been picked clean yet nor has our ability to repay borrowing – so plenty of government funding still available!

  14. AB 14

    Labour under Ardern is a brilliantly-led centre-right party. You have to admire them – everything the National party might have been if it wasn't in cahoots with the ideological freak show that commands the upper echelons of NZ business.

  15. Hunter Thompson II 15

    The HYEFU is only one way of asssessing our situation.

    Don't forget what Robert Kennedy once said – GDP measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile.

    Today’s news item on the half-built pseudo castle on the North Canterbury Plains sums it up for me.

  16. Tiger Mountain 16

    To Ad at 19 Dec 3.07pm…

    “Working class struggle is dead here.”–what sort of fuckwittery is this? Does union activity not count as struggle in your world view?

    This past week First Union had extended strike action at Countdown call centre in Ponsonby, and Etū had a week of strike action by care workers at Lifewise Home Support.

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    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Funding hole for tax cuts growing by the day
    The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Luxon’s brave climate change promise
    The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles  and that ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
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