The Parler purge

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, January 12th, 2021 - 87 comments
Categories: Donald Trump, Media, social media lolz, uncategorized, us politics - Tags:

Poor Parler and its users.  Where will the right congregate online now and talk about white supremacy and how patriotic it is to engage in armed insurrection?

It was already having a bad week with Google and Apple pulling its app and then Amazon deciding to no longer host its data. But things then got really crazy.

What happened is described by David Gilbert in Vice:

Right-wing social network Parler was taken offline in the early hours of Monday morning, but not before hackers found a way to download all data posted by users — including messages, images, videos, and users’ location data — shared during last week’s attack on the Capitol.

The data taken from Parler is still being processed, but Trump supporters are already voicing their concerns about what the data dump could expose about them and their activity in Washington, D.C. last week.

Imagine the book that could be written from this data.

A hacker who goes by the name Crash Override on Twitter claims they were able to reverse-engineer the Parler iOS app, in order to find a web address that the application uses internally to retrieve data.

That allows the hacker to make a list of all posts, videos, and images uploaded to Parler — including posts that users had deleted, such as those referring to the Capitol attack last Wednesday.

Like most online services, Parler didn’t actually delete user posts; they simply marked them as unviewable and omitted them from search results.

Initially, the hacker worked on downloading the data herself, but when Amazon announced it was going to shut off access, [she] urged her followers to join in by publishing a list of all the posts.

The hacker set up a crowdsourcing system where multiple people could help download the content. The downloaded data is now being processed before being uploaded to the Internet Archive, where anyone will be able to view or download it — including the open-source intelligence community and law enforcement agencies.

And the possibility of everything coming out has scared some Trump supporters.

“Bad news. Left extremists have captured and archived over 70TB of data from Parler servers. This includes posts, personal information, locations, videos, images, etc,” a Telegram account called North Central Florida Patriots said on Monday morning.

“The intent is a mass dox and a list to hold patriots ‘accountable’. It is too late to scrub your data, and it’s already archived. There is nothing you can do to prevent what’s already happened. All you can do is prepare for the fallout. Accountability may come in many forms for our free speech, doxing, jobs might be called, addresses leaked and people coming to your house, etc.”

To be honest I am not sure how much effect this will have and it seems like many of the protesters have already doxxed themselves.  And the ethical considerations are complex.  But the fallout will be interesting.

For law enforcement the information is gold.  The US Government has killed people based on metadata.  Photos with time stamps and location data linked back to an individual are wonderful ways to prove who was where and when.  And contemporary information on what they were wearing that can be cross referenced against other photos and videos is wonderful information for law enforcement to have.

As an example this guy has been identified and arrested already.  In part because he took his mum along.  But the data will allow for many more to be identified.

There is a debate to be had about the role of social media in our lives and what has happened here.  And what regulations should be in place in the future.  I am pretty confident that allowing the unfettered spread of fake news and conspiracy theories are not inimical to our collective best interests.

But for now we can all have have a quiet chuckle that the the self styled master race do not appear to be so masterful.

87 comments on “The Parler purge ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. KSaysHi 1
    12 January 2021 at 9:39 am

    Authorities already have all the information in the NSA Utah Data Center.

    Wouldn't the news of this hack be used in court to suggest the hacker themselves may have altered the information, thus corrupting any case the NSA had been building?

  2. gsays 2
    12 January 2021 at 10:36 am

    You open with a very good question. I get it was meant to be rhetorical, for local audiences, but surely these ideas are better where they can be seen, debated and assessed.
    Racism, hatred, bigotry and anything else undesirable will not go away because it has been ‘deplatformed’.

    • roblogic 2.1
      12 January 2021 at 11:07 am

      Oh so we should just take the fatalist approach and let the bullshit and hatred spread like COVID?

      No.

      • gsays 2.1.1
        12 January 2021 at 12:44 pm

        Nothing fatalistic about engaging with someone.

        In fact deplatfirming belongs in the fatalistic file.

        Any examples of prohibition working?

        • McFlock 2.1.1.1
          12 January 2021 at 1:57 pm

          Several, actually. Not too many Cathars around these days, for example.

          But deplatforming isn't prohibition. It's refusing to be party to recruitment. "Engaging" with people requires respect and consideration. Giving respect suggests the position is respectable. The very act of polite discourse in the face of obscenity makes that obscenity socially acceptable, and therefore aids recruitment.

          And when Popper comes into play, "engaging with someone" is an act of attempted suicide.

          • gsays 2.1.1.1.1
            12 January 2021 at 2:29 pm

            The intolerance of intolerance conundrum occupied me as I pushed a lawn mower round.

            • McFlock 2.1.1.1.1.1
              12 January 2021 at 2:54 pm

              Yup. It's a good one.

              • gsays …
                12 January 2021 at 3:55 pm

                I am gonna have to look up Cathars.

                • McFlock …
                  12 January 2021 at 4:02 pm

                  A Catholic heresy the pope prohibited 600 years ago. Prohibited with extreme prejudice.

                  I actually read an argument a few years ago that reckoned alcohol prohibition in the US actually worked ok – reckoned that some benchmarks like tonnage drunk, % of regular drinkers, and alcohol related harm decreased. Everyone talks about the lawbreakers, but the argument was that we're only looking at sexy criminals, not the people who went to work every day and stopped drinking during the period. I take it with a grain of salt, but the prohibition does sometimes work.

                  • gsays …
                    12 January 2021 at 4:46 pm

                    Oops, doing too many things at once.

                    Currently doing a radio show up @ Massey.

                    My understanding of prohibition is that the behaviour frowned upon ceases immediately. Wiki reckons it took over 200 years for the Cathars to cease. That's with a Catholic Crusade on their tails.

                    Not that the idea of two Gods has disappeared from humanity. The Catholic Church has become less relevant than those days however.

                    • McFlock …
                      12 January 2021 at 5:34 pm

                      Immediately? Nah. Few if any social changes happen immediately.

                      If people didn't want to do something, it wouldn't have to be prohibited. So then the thing being prohibited has a function of how desperate people are for it (spiritual belief, chemical addiction), mechanisms to recruit new people to it (proselytisers, free hits), manufacturing (priests/prophets/chemists/growers) and a distribution network for it (priests/bibles/dealers). All of that needs to be interrupted and broken down.

                      If it was just "rule change and everyone immediately stops doing it", I doubt any prohibition effort would have ever been successful. There's always someone who keeps doing it for a bit.

                    • In Vino …
                      12 January 2021 at 9:10 pm

                      I personally have always admired G K Chesterton's version of the Ten Commandments:

                      "No graven image shall worshipped be

                      except the golden currency"

                      Small chance of prohibition working in cases like that.

                • Pierre …
                  13 January 2021 at 6:56 am

                  Francis Cabrel wrote this haunting song about them. It's a violent and tragic story of a cult which was wiped out through long years of systematic killing and torture.

                  Obviously the comparison with Parler was rhetorical.

                  • gsays …
                    13 January 2021 at 7:11 pm

                    Thanks Pierre, it is a beautiful song. Reading the translation, Cabrel has beautiful poetry for such shameful actions.

          • RedLogix 2.1.1.1.2
            12 January 2021 at 4:28 pm

            I agree with the idea that when an ideology steps over a boundary, then it's necessary to disengage and condemn. Facism for example.

            And on this occasion Trump has unquestionably stepped over it too. I'm discomforted in some respects by his deplatforming, but it's justified in my view. This is not something we should ever do lightly.

            However we should be aware that we seem very sensitive to boundaries our opponents step over, not so much our own.

        • roblogic 2.1.1.2
          12 January 2021 at 4:04 pm

          The Dems tried engaging in thoughtful democratic debate while QAnon conspiracy nuts had free rein to spread torrents of lies and disinformation, and Trump stirred hatred and fear. Media platforms have no obligation to facilitate insurrection.

          As an academic exercise it may be interesting to critique the roots of Trumpism and fascism, but when a movement turns violent and hateful, forceful and decisive action is necessary.

          https://eand.co/america-needs-to-break-the-back-of-its-fascist-movement-now-or-else-d415b4b75a3f

          • gsays 2.1.1.2.1
            12 January 2021 at 4:37 pm

            I realise Amerikkka is broken.

            The Dems as they are currently, arent the ones to fix it.

        • roblogic 2.1.1.3
          12 January 2021 at 4:07 pm

          Turning your question around, there are plenty of examples of marketing and disinformation campaigns being incredibly effective.

        • Gabby 2.1.1.4
          12 January 2021 at 6:59 pm

          Not a lot of point engaging with an inveterate shameless liar.

        • Simbit 2.1.1.5
          13 January 2021 at 1:14 pm

          Once read of a Buddhist sect that believed we went through 10,000 rebirths and then attained nirvana, regardless of karma and our attitudes and behaviours. You can see why they purged that…

    • Phil 2.2
      12 January 2021 at 12:10 pm

      …surely these ideas are better where they can be seen, debated and assessed.

      Do you really, truly, think that there still needs to be a debate about whether it's ok to be a racist? Seems to me like we're well past that being a topic worth engaging.

      Racism, hatred, bigotry and anything else undesirable will not go away because it has been ‘deplatformed’.

      I accept that we might never be 100% rid of those things, just like I accept that i'm never going to be 100% rid of weeds in my garden. But in neither case does that mean we should do nothing and let them choke out the positive speech or plants that I want to see grow.

      • gsays 2.2.1
        12 January 2021 at 12:52 pm

        If we aren't discussing racism, how does a racist become unracist?

        As to the garden analogy, is comfrey a weed?

        • McFlock 2.2.1.1
          12 January 2021 at 2:06 pm

          Engaging with someone has three possible primary outcomes: they convince you, you convince them, neither convinces the other. Secondary outcomes include convincing spectators.

          Refusing to engage with racists and deplatforming them has one possible outcome: You will not help them to recruit anyone else.

          • gsays 2.2.1.1.1
            12 January 2021 at 4:02 pm

            Ok, that's the primary possibilities. Planting seeds needs watering, attention and nurturing.

            I know since hanging out here, my views on many things have shifted. Not immediately mind…

            That is without going into what is considered offensive/worthy of being shut down. One person's insurrectionist is another's patriot

            I don't for a moment think Amazon was making an ethical decision. It was about business interests from the get go.

            • McFlock 2.2.1.1.1.1
              12 January 2021 at 4:13 pm

              Yeah, but how many nats have come here and managed to flip a unionist?

              A lot of these forums where the capitol activities were organised were not akin to town squares where everyone went for the craic. Think more the local fasc booking out a community hall – good faith counter-discussion wasn't going to do much other than let them convince each other "liberal got owned". So don't rent them the hall.

              Amazon realised most people have had enough of these wankers, so yeah, it made a commercial decision.

              As to where we should be drawing the line, if neonazis and white supremacists are anywhere close to the grey area then I'm personally not cool with that.

    • mickysavage 2.3
      12 January 2021 at 8:34 pm

      Thanks gsays. I asked the question and wrote the post because part of me is really happy and cheering what has occurred. But rather than driving them underground shouldn't we make sure they were still in public so that we can continue to monitor what they are doing. But they have caused a lot of damage over the past decade.

  3. WeTheBleeple 3
    12 January 2021 at 12:02 pm

    Free speech is not disinformation, falsehoods, gaslighting, bullying or hate. Those things are as labelled.

    The blue lives matter crowd beat a cop to death. They were never interested in free speech just pissing off BLM.

    The Jesus is love folk got bused in to 'take our country back'. They're interested in creating a theocracy, no free speech required after that.

    The 'stop the steal' folk merely smeared feces on the Capitol walls, erected a gallows, and plotted the murders of officials. These the results of so called 'free speech'.

    Mealy mouthed bullshit used to concoct and carry out bullying, intimidation, gaslighting, incitement and yes, insurrection.

  4. lprent 4
    12 January 2021 at 12:18 pm

    There is a general rule about anything on the net. I got told it in early 1980s when I started playing multi-user Star Trek on VT100 terminals on a DEC 1170.

    Never write or say anything in private that you wouldn't want to eventually see in public.

    Eventually everything leaks. If it doesn't leak then someone downloads it. If you say it, then sure as hell someone will repeat it.

    It is the generic rule that I've followed throughout my life.

    It looks like another generation is going to find that out the hard way. The crowd sourced download is a interesting feature of this hack. I have mused for a while that was going to happen. It is easy enough to pin up a pile of virtual machines on cloud platforms to pull data these days.

    Hopefully whoever initiated this and those of organised the download have protected themselves as well. I suspect that Parler and this who have their statements presented in court will try to cover their embarrassment by attacking the means of the data being made public.

    However I suspect that they have a pretty good public interest mitigation argument for the sentencing in that they are making this information direct to public without any possible monetary or profit motive or even a personal benefit.

    The only reason this hasn't happened before at this kind of level (nearest I can think of is some of the anonymous hacks – but there is often a dickwaving motive to that). But the capabilities have been there for a while.

    • The Al1en 4.1
      12 January 2021 at 12:41 pm

      I agree with your quote, and have adhered to this for a long time, on line or in the real world.

      Only comparable thing I remember is the bnp membership leak.

      https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/nov/18/bnp-membership-list-leak

      ” “I’m also on the list, what the fuck is going on? I could lose my job,” posted one member on a north-west England BNP forum.

      Another wrote: “God help anyone who is in the army, the prison service, health care, police officer or a teacher.” “

    • weka 4.2
      12 January 2021 at 4:47 pm

      It's a reasonable rule of thumb, but there is still a difference between what people share privately and what they say in public in the same way there is IRL. I'm also mindful of the people who will be collateral damage in this, it's not like US law enforcement or spooks are going to take *that much care. If the personal details data is published online, then that's stepping over a line and I'm not yet convinced the public good argument prevails.

      • McFlock 4.2.1
        12 January 2021 at 5:39 pm

        I'm concerned about people they were doxxing amongst themselves. like if they were targeting journos or whatever, all the personal details about those targeted people would be out, too.

        • weka 4.2.1.1
          12 January 2021 at 7:20 pm

          didn't follow that at all sorry. You're concerned about the people that the hackers were sharing details about amongst the hackers?

          • McFlock 4.2.1.1.1
            12 January 2021 at 8:48 pm

            No. There's a fair chance (just being an internet forum) that some of the material discussed amongst the registered users involved the personal information of completely unconnected individuals. Even something like has happened on TS on one occasion, where someone copy and pastes company director addresses from the companies register. The mods here caught it, but even if the parler admins "deleted" similar content, that content would still be in the data dump that the hackers plan to make publicly available.

            I have fewer concerns about actual registered commenters of parler. If someone outed that my hairdresser was a closet nazi, I think that's a piece of information that would help me with my purchasing decisions.

            It goes both ways. If I get doxxed for some of the stuff I've said here over the years, my employer would likely lose some income if I stayed in the job. I think my employer is worthwhile, so I'd have a serious talk about making a graceful exit.

            • weka 4.2.1.1.1.1
              12 January 2021 at 11:13 pm

              Ah yes, that's some of who I was thinking about too. As well as partners or kids of people registered people being doxxed. Your hairdresser might be someone hanging out on parler talking to Nazis but fully radicalised yet, and when she loses her job her kids go hungry.

              I know sfa about parler though, and don't have a good sense of how many people were using it who weren't hard core protofascists.

              I'm not sure I'm arguing against the hack so much as pointing out there are issues here for the left in terms of what's acceptable ethically.

              • McFlock …
                12 January 2021 at 11:57 pm

                Yeah, it's not a blanket good.

                I'd also be interested to see how researchers deal with the ethical issues down the track – it could provide an almost complete record on radicalisation and the development of covert social networks.To have a complete record like that in an open source has all sorts of potential for social research, not even just researching the nutbar right.

  5. Adrian 5
    12 January 2021 at 1:01 pm

    What are the chances that the two people who did not get Covid on the flight may have had an immunity from previous contact, can that be picked up in Day 3 and 12 testing, or they had high Vit-D levels which has been shown to be protective. Maybe they were just super careful?

    As for pre-flight negative tests, I can’ t think of anything stupider than sending someone out to where C19 positive people must gather to wait for a test, as a negative test only records from 3 days prior when in fact the very process is probably the most dangerous thing that a hopeful flyer may have done for weeks. I feel a lot of the things that Dr Baker says defies common sense.
    Sorry on wrong thread, having huge probs with bloody Spark and stuff dropping out every few minutes so got out of sync.

  6. Forget now 6
    12 January 2021 at 4:12 pm

    I am pretty confident that allowing the unfettered spread of fake news and conspiracy theories IS inimical to our collective best interest. I am pretty confident MS is too, maybe just tripped up on the proofreading?

  7. Grafton Gully 7
    12 January 2021 at 8:06 pm

    They'll get old fashioned and find another way. bypassing and undermining the online vehicles.

  8. Ad 8
    12 January 2021 at 9:15 pm

    They will figure out the same ways to communicate as Middle East terrorists have from the last three decades.

    I'm looking forward to the entire Homeland Security apparatus focused on their dominant domestic threat. It'll happen at some point.

    • McFlock 8.1
      12 January 2021 at 11:25 pm

      In the morning, when they shave for work? 🙂

      The 1990s to 2000s was damned odd – militia got a lot of focus after OKC, but also the militia were waiting for the big government event that would be an excuse to introduce totalitarianism (and the militias would bravely defeat 2000lb bombs with an ar15).

      Then 9/11 happened, and that became the excuse for Homeland security and the Patriot Act (and nude scans at airports). And the militias… tended to support it.

      Sure, the tea party was going nuts, but the patriot act wasn't high on their list of complaints. I guess if you don't read to often, you don't have a problem with librarians being required to tell feds what you've been reading.

  9. smilin 9
    12 January 2021 at 11:03 pm

    amazon owns the bulk of US and European servers plus the US govt military ones

  10. Sacha 10
    13 January 2021 at 7:31 am

    Not much hacking required, thanks to amateurish setup.

    https://twitter.com/MartinSFP/status/1349050917417574400

    Parler lacked the most basic security measures that would have prevented the automated scraping of the site's data. It even ordered its posts by number in the site's URLs, so that anyone could have easily, programmatically downloaded the site's millions of posts.

    Parler's cardinal security sin is known as an insecure direct object reference, says Kenneth White, codirector of the Open Crypto Audit Project…

    …

    "It's just a straight sequence, which is mind-numbing to me," says White. "This is like a Computer Science 101 bad homework assignment, the kind of stuff that you would do when you're first learning how web servers work. I wouldn't even call it a rookie mistake because, as a professional, you would never write something like this."

    Services like Twitter, by contrast, randomize the URLs of posts so they can't be guessed. And while they offer APIs that give developers access to tweets en masse, they carefully restrict access to those APIs. By contrast, Parler had no authentication for an API that offered access to all its public contents, says Josh Rickard, a security engineer for security firm Swimlane.

    • alwyn the troll 10.1
      13 January 2021 at 1:12 pm

      Was their security like that on the Labour Party website when Whaleoil accessed it in 2011? ie non-existent?

      If that is the case they really do deserve to have the whole lot made public don't they? Just the same way that the Labour Party deserved it?

      Or am I missing something?

    • Phillip ure 11.1
      13 January 2021 at 10:38 am

      Redbaiter closed down also…

      • Phillip ure 11.1.1
        13 January 2021 at 10:52 am

        I agree with closing down trump..

        but not so happy about the weeding out of his acolytes..

        as in when does the banning stop..?

        seeing as our spooks already see animal rights people as evonomic-terrorists…who are undermining the nz economy..

        ..with their blathering on..

        ..there must almost be cause to ban them..

        should we de-platform hosking for his years of preaching racism..against maori..?

        (the examples are many..)

        t'is a slippery-slope…that banning thing..

        and much as I loathe pretty much every word that falls from their lips..I don't think redbaiter and that dem-mum person should be banned..

        like talks with like…and you don't have to read them..

        ..and you don't need the apparatus of the state/whatever to do that for you..

        do you…?

  13. Corey Humm 13
    13 January 2021 at 4:53 pm

    Too little too late from big tech. The damage social media has done to politicial discourse it's insane now. Social media allows us to broadcast our first reactions to news and our first reactions are usually angry and uniformed.

    While we're happy Trump and co are being somewhat deplatformed and we should be , I'm not happy that corporates hold this much power, we must never forget historically it's the left who get censored and deplatformed and it's only a matter of time before left wing voices that go against corporate news media and silicon valleys politics are considered radical and dangerous (we are the ones who want to break up the big corporates after all)

    Im glad they are getting radicals off mainstream social media but it doesn't mean they'll go away.

    There's also questions like what kind of veiws will get you banned ? Will it be an algorithm or people? There's many many many with conspiratorial views on the left, many who talk about revolutions, corporate conspiracies, sending the 1% to gulags, killing and eating the rich will they be banned? Will activists on the left for civil rights issues many who can often speak quite viciously about white people ( out of pain and anger, which is understandable) which can be construed by some as racist if it's not a human doing the deleting I'd say they'd be banned too . There's a lot of radical people on the left who use quite radical language even in my own LGBT+ community who talk about killing straight white men, hell there are people on the left who call homosexuality genital preference and believe same sex attraction is a choice and just a societal construct, this could be interpreted as homophobia from inside the lgbt if a non lgbt person or algorithm is doing the deleting. (This isn't me accusing any movement of bigotry but there are all sorts of activists who might be called for views, jokes and inflammatory langue just go in Twitter because social media brings out the worst in people regardless of politcs)

    And what happens when they are deplatformed do they go away or do they go somewhere in the dark which scares me even more especially for the right wing scum who are already using platforms like parler.

    I am glad that big tech is frankly doing something don't get me wrong but it does set a dangerous precedent and many movements which use inflammatory language even on the left may be caught in the cull.

    I still think we should break up the big tech giants and turn social media into some kind of utility because they have far too much power and absolute power corrupts absolutey. I mean deplatforming the potus is incredible power even though I agree with it . Everytime I comment I get banned and I probably will for saying that a lot of progressive movements and communities use inflammatory langue all time, will calling for some kind of revolution have your blog or account or site removed by big tech? Will legitimate protests no longer be able to advertised or shared on line.

    I just hope it's a human being not an algorithm because the algorithms already in use have negatively effected the left more than the right

    • Sacha 13.1
      13 January 2021 at 5:02 pm

      I doubt the big US corporates will jump to ban lefties unless there is any action to match the fine words.

      This banning only happened because the chumpy mob showed they were quite willing to turn words into physical and civic harm. Credible threat.

    • gsays 13.2
      13 January 2021 at 7:26 pm

      With Phil's garden analogy, I asked about comfrey. Some opine it is an invasive, prolific weed and curse it.

      I have found it to be great living mulch (keeps weeds and grass at bay around trees), bees love it, awesome compost/tea and goes OK in a salad when the leaves are young. I wouldn't be without it.

      One person's surrectionist is another's patriot.

    • roblogic 13.3
      14 January 2021 at 1:05 pm

      Corporate America is a scary beast that plunders the Earth but it’s enabled by the Deep State/ CIA which runs the most powerful military and intelligence apparatus ever seen, and it’s run by unaccountable men in suits.

      “Democracy”… great marketing gimmick

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • PM announces changes to portfolios
    Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago

  • New catch limits for unique fishery areas
    Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago

  • Minister welcomes hydrogen milestone
    Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Urgent changes to system through first RMA Amendment Bill
    The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Overseas decommissioning models considered
    Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Release of North Island Severe Weather Event Inquiry
    Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Justice Minister to attend Human Rights Council
    Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order.  “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Patterson reopens world’s largest wool scouring facility
    Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Speech to the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective Summit, 18 April 2024
    Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing  At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin    Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho    Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today.    I am delighted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government to introduce revised Three Strikes law
    The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New diplomatic appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions.   “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says.    “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Humanitarian support for Ethiopia and Somalia
    New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today.   “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Arts Minister congratulates Mataaho Collective
    Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale.  “It is good ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Supporting better financial outcomes for Kiwis
    The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Trade relationship with China remains strong
    “China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says.   Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • PM’s South East Asia mission does the business
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.    “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-04-24T06:51:14+00:00