The patriarchy is not inevitable

Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, April 23rd, 2023 - 40 comments
Categories: feminism, patriarchy - Tags: , , , , , ,

I’ve been talking with other feminists lately about the patriarchy and how, in order to dismantle it, we have to know what it is: its structure, purpose and intent.

Part of this means acknowledging that the gains women are making have made under patriarchy’s current form, neoliberal capitalism, are not a threat to neoliberalism itself. This is why we are allowed to have them. The needs and desires of women that threaten the system will always be suppressed. Without radical system change, there is no women’s liberation.

It also follows that were we to change to another form of patriarchy, say fascist or authoritarian states, we would likewise not be allowed liberation. I point this out to show that while there are important and significant differences between neoliberal capitalism and fascism, both deny women the right to our own being, politics and culture.

What is the patriarchy?

The patriarchy is a 5,000 year old hierarchical, domination system many contemporary countries use to organise society, and like all human systems it has structures that are informed by belief. So what are these structures and beliefs?

Left wing feminist and philosopher Jane Clare Jones is a good starting point. 

Lets do patriarchy 101 shall we?

Patriarchy is a system of *male dominance.*

In this system male people hold most of the power and wealth. In this system, very importantly, we also privilege the needs and interests of male people over those of female people.

The feminist analysis of this situation is that society is structured to serve the interests of males. A significant part of these interests involves female people being positioned as a *resource* for males. This includes being a reproductive and sexual resource, as well as the exploitation of female people’s domestic and emotional labour.

That women have certain reproductive capacities, and that men want to have reproductive and sexual access to women is FUNDAMENTAL to why this system evolved, and why men *still have an interest* in maintaining it.

That is, male dominance over women is entirely non-accidentally related to the fact that men want access to WOMEN’S BODIES. 

And on oppression of women as a sex class,

Structural oppression is a class based relation between a dominant class and a subjugated class through which the dominant class extracts labour, or access to bodies, or both, from the subjugated class. That is, structural oppression is a class based relation of material extraction, through which the dominant class profits from the oppression of the subjugated class.

…

There are three main axes of structural oppression – socio-economic class, sex and race.

If that seems too academically dense, put it this way: capitalism (the patriarchy) needs labour to build wealth for the power holders in society. Who provides the people that do that labour? Women. Without women there are no wage slaves to do the work of building capital. We make sure that the species continues, both by childbearing and child rearing.

We generally don’t get paid or particularly well supported for that, and there are serious barriers for women who have children to fully take part in society. The system uses women but keeps us in the proper place within the system: it needs women to have babies and it needs to control that for the wellbeing of the capitalistic system. It can’t pay women for our labour, because then we’d have more power to change the system to something that works for women and children, and that wouldn’t be the neoliberal, capitalist, anti-nature, death cult state we have now. It would mean the end of capitalism.

It’s worth pointing out that men on the trad left who deny that sex is an axis of oppression, are doing the work of the patriarchy. Also worth pointing out that the neoliberal left appears to have largely abandoned socioeconomics and sex as class oppressions.

Patriarchy as a system of domination, egalitarianism as a system of partnership

Another useful analysis of patriarchal structure and belief comes from systems scientist and futurist Riane Eisler, who conceptualised the patriarchy as a dominator system but also presented an alternative: arranging society based on a partnership model.

From the Wikipedia article on Eisler’s 1987 groundbreaking book The Chalice and the Blade,

Briefly her thesis is despite old narratives about an inherently flawed humanity, more and more evidence shows humanity is not doomed to perpetuate patterns of violence and oppression. Female values offer a partnership alternative with deep roots in the pre-Patriarchy paradigm of cultural evolution. No utopia is predicted; rather, a way of structuring society in more peaceful, equitable, and sustainable ways is envisioned.

…

The author compares two underlying types of social organization in which the cultural construction of gender roles and relations is key. Eisler places human societies on what she calls the partnership-domination continuum. At one end of the continuum are societies oriented to the partnership model. At the other are societies oriented to the dominator or domination model. These categories transcend conventional categories such as ancient vs. modern, Eastern vs. Western, religious vs. secular, rightist vs. leftist, and so on.

The domination model ranks man over man, man over woman, race over race, and religion vs. religion, with difference equated with superiority or inferiority. It comprises an authoritarian structure in both family and state or tribe, rigid male dominance, and a high degree of abuse and violence. The partnership model consists of a democratic and egalitarian structure in both the family and state or tribe, with hierarchies of actualization where power is empowering rather than disempowering (as in hierarchies of domination). There is also gender partnership and a low degree of abuse and violence, as it is not needed to maintain rigid top-down rankings.

The point here isn’t women/good, men/bad. It’s specifically that the patriarchy is a system that heirarchises power and gives preferential treatment to men and demotes women. In fact it basically treats everyone and all of life badly, but within that some people do better than others. Key here is that men as a class have a vested interest in maintaining the system and women have a vested interest in dismantling it. That’s a choice.

Also important is that Eisler’s model isn’t a reversing of the patriarchy and putting women in charge and men in a subordinate position to women. Women-centric egalitarian cultures centre women, because women will share power, upholding the community and the value of the whole tribe (including men) rather than the individualistic ethic that most of us in the West have been socialised into and that has given rise to the neoliberal capitalistic current form of patriarchy.

Referencing the long development of human culture before the rise of patriarchy in eastern Europe/the Middle East 5,000 years ago, Eisler uses a multidisciplinary approach across anthropology, sociology, law, art, literature, psychology, science, religion and political science.

But Eisler makes it clear that pre-history wasn’t utopia, and the point now is not to return to some imagined state, but to use what we know to create new systems going forward. 

Of note here is that rather than presenting a rigid binary of dominator vs egalitarian cultures, Eisler puts them on a continuum. This in itself is an example of partnership model thinking. Hard dualistic thinking is a feature of patriarchy. Flexible, both/and thinking is what opens the way to egalitarianism. Embrace the contradictions and nuance. 

Indigenous perspectives: not all societies are patriarchal

Following on from this, is looking at the work of Native American scholar, the late Paula Gunn Allen. In the introduction to The Sacred Hoop – Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions, Allen outlines seven main themes in Native culture. These include multiple references to what she calls gynocracy (which I interpret not as rule by women, but the centering of women in societal organisation).

Traditional tribal lifestyles are more often gynocratic than not, and they are never patriarchal. These features make understanding tribal cultures essential to all responsible activists who seek life-affirming social change that can result in a real decrease in human and planetary destruction and in a real increase in quality of life for all inhabitants of planet earth.

…

Some distinguishing features of a woman-centered social system include free and easy sexuality and wide latitude in personal style. This latitude means that a diversity of people, including gay males and lesbians, are not denied and are in fact likely to be accorded honor. Also likely to be prominent in such systems are nurturing, pacifist, and passive males (as defined by western minds) and self-defining, assertive, decisive women. In many tribes, the nurturing male constitutes the ideal adult model for boys while the decisive, self-directing female is the ideal model to which girls aspire.

…

In tribal gynocratic systems a multitude of personality and character types can function positively within the social order because the systems are focused on social responsibility rather than on privilege and on the realities of the human constitution rather than on denial-based social fictions to which human beings are compelled to conform by powerful individuals within the society.

Tribal gynocracies prominently feature even distribution of goods among all members of the society on the grounds that First Mother enjoined cooperation and sharing on all her children.

One of the major distinguishing characteristics of gynocratic cultures is the absence of punitiveness as a means of social control.

…

Among gynocratic or gynocentric tribal peoples the welfare of the young is paramount, the complementary nature of all life forms is stressed, and the centrality of powerful women to social well-being is unquestioned.

Again, I feel compelled to point out that this isn’t native/good, white/bad. We’re talking systems here. And please, let’s resist the temptation to dismiss what Paula Gunn Allen is presenting by casting it in (anti) Noble Savage memes just because it challenges our own dominator socialisation.

It’s likely that all peoples have ancestors from egalitarian cultures if we go back far enough.

Speaking about the ways in which Indian women held and hold power in traditional societies, 

The colonizers saw (and rightly) that as long as women held unquestioned power of such magnitude, attempts at total conquest of the continents were bound to fail. In the centuries since the first attempts at colonization in the early 1500s, the invaders have exerted every effort to remove Indian women from every position of authority, to obliterate all records pertaining to gynocratic social systems, and to ensure that no American and few American Indians would remember that gynocracy was the primary social order of Indian America prior to 1800. But colonial attempts at cultural gynocide notwithstanding, there were and are gynocracies—that is, woman-centered tribal societies in which matrilocality, matrifocality, matrilinearity, maternal control of household goods and resources, and female deities of the magnitude of the Christian God were and are present and active features of traditional tribal life.

Feminism looking beyond the patriarchy

Why don’t we know about women-centric, egalitarian societies? Because under the patriarchy, men got to write history and those men have a vested interest in their own sex, race and socio-economic class remaining in control.

One of the prime tasks of feminism is to teach women that the patriarchy is not inevitable. In Eisler’s model of post-patriarchy, the beliefs and stories of the system matter. For feminism, shifting the narrative from ‘this is how it’s always been’ to ‘we already know how to do women-centred culture’ is central in women reclaiming our power and liberation.

Feminist historian and founder of the Suppressed Histories Archive, Max Dashu, has this short video on historical and contemporary examples of Mother-Right Equalitarian Societies from across the globe.

Front page image from the Suppressed Histories Archive via Cradle of Civilisation. Max Dashu,

Women’s circle dance in bronze age rock art from Zerovschan, Tajikistan, with numinous quadrant in center. They appear to be wearing skirts, but the dot between the legs is a very common female sign, or the dot in vulva which may also figure  here.

40 comments on “The patriarchy is not inevitable ”

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  1. weka 1
    22 April 2023 at 9:58 am

    If you are on a mobile device and can't see the post (there's a bug on the mobile version) scroll to the bottom of the page and select Desktop.

  2. weka 2
    22 April 2023 at 10:00 am

    the first Jane Clare Jones quote is from here

    I had to remove link to twitter in case it is the thing stopping posts being visible on the mobile site.

  3. tsmithfield 3
    22 April 2023 at 10:36 am

    It seems to me that women have more issues with the Transiarchy than the patriarchy these days lol.

    I think most patriarchal stuff these days is more to do with a residual hang-over from the past that is slowly disappearing. Though, I am saying this from the perspective of a male, but women may think differently.

    On one of the boards I am on we have a chair woman. She is fantastic, and has a really good style. Though, we still tend to have male majorities. Though, that is not by choice, but rather availability. And we do welcome and encourage women to come onto our boards.

    We tend to find we get a different perspective on issues from women, which is incredibly valuable.

    • weka 3.1
      22 April 2023 at 10:45 am

      maybe have a reread of the post. The patriarchy is the overarching system we are all living in. What you are referring to is a snapshot of how women are tolerated in the patriarchal system. It's not women's liberation, and it's not egalitarianism.

      • tsmithfield 3.1.1
        22 April 2023 at 11:00 am

        maybe have a reread of the post.

        You did quote:

        Patriarchy is a system of *male dominance.*

        In this system male people hold most of the power and wealth. In this system, very importantly, we also privilege the needs and interests of male people over those of female people.

        And I stand by what I said. I think the patriarchal system is on the way out. There is a vast difference now in society compared to say the 1950s. Though it does vary a lot between groups and cultures. And there are some groups that are still strongly patriarchal in their structure.

        But, certainly, in my own social circle, I think the patriarchal aspect has declined a lot.

        It isn't what it needs to be yet. But the trend is in the right direction I think.

        • weka 3.1.1.1
          23 April 2023 at 11:32 am

          I know what you think, but you are wrong. You seem to think the patriarchy is sexism and that if we reduce sexism somewhat then it means the patriarchy is on the way out. It's not, it's just the system flexing to allow some socially liberal shifts because having women and liberals on board supports the system.

          But, certainly, in my own social circle, I think the patriarchal aspect has declined a lot.

          That's not the system. You could have said this,

          But, certainly, in my own social circle, I think the sexism aspect has declined a lot.

          and it would have made sense.

    • Shanreagh 3.2
      22 April 2023 at 11:13 am

      It seems to me that women have more issues with the Transiarchy than the patriarchy these days lol.

      My view is that they are one and the same. 'Transarchy' is a slice from the patriarchy loaf.

    • Sabine 3.3
      23 April 2023 at 11:41 am

      The Transiarchy is the Patriarchy but with bright red lipstick, heels and a wig. Same old pig as it always was.

  5. weka 5
    22 April 2023 at 10:44 am

    Reading #PaulaGunnAllen on twitter.

    “The root of oppression is loss of memory”

    If we forget what has been we cannot know what is possible.

  6. roblogic 6
    22 April 2023 at 10:55 am

    It would be nice if so many feminists weren't also profoundly anti-family viewing it as a vehicle of patriarchal oppression. For some women this is true, but for many others motherhood and family are the axis of their lives. We need a better narrative that views the sexes as complementary rather than in competition.

    The "sex and the city" girlboss lifestyle is a marketing scam. And there's a dark side to feminine power – the psychology of empathy can be an abusive political force.

    As I understand it, Marxism recognises female oppression as part of the culture of capitalism, which oppresses everyone, including most men. Only a few, generally sociopathic, males ascend to the elite echelons of power. I like your model of the 'partnership' system that increases the agency of more people over their lives.

    • SPC 6.1
      22 April 2023 at 3:03 pm

      The idea that the sexes are complementary, "separate but equal" can lead to "gender" roles and Promise Keeper thinking (some irony that one of their elite is now a Justice on SCOTUS, the career choice path that feminists wanted to be available for women).

      It was brave to post that first link on this thread, and as for the second it builds on that narrative to argue for a framework for governance of society based on reason rather then empathy. It could be posed as man bringing masculine leadership order to the feminine emotional chaos. The so called natural order of the mind/evolved psyche of the academic in Jordan Peterson.

      Yup, the capitalist system ultimately has to sell egalitarian popularism to the males in the social sphere (unity against threat – feminism, social gospel as foreign socialism) and also offer exalted status to women of family values/as mothers/biological females.

  7. Shanreagh 7
    22 April 2023 at 11:03 am

    Oh Weka, thank you.

    'Yum' smiley I relish the chance to update myself since my early studies.

    My thoughts about the patriarchy and religion which is part of the patriarchy to my mind, is that they work as systems until they don't. So that for some women the partriarchy (possibly?) can be a force for good, but not for all women and not all the time.

    I used to be more positive about this & being Ok with working around the margins to ensure that the worst excesses were not meted out on women, I must say all this trans stuff with the typical 'because I say so' attitude and because it confers 'rights' mainly on men has revived thoughts about the systems we live under.
    The virulent anti woman & anti older women slant seems to place it well within the workings of the patriarchy. ‘Men want this, so get out of our way.’

    The price of working within the patriarchy for many women is that we are exposed to the not so nice manifestations that adherence to the patriarchy works to keep women in line and that is misogyny.

    So my thoughts have been turning more and more to the patriarchy. To unfinshed business, structural change……..

  8. Belladonna 8
    22 April 2023 at 11:17 am

    And an example in the news today. This women died as a direct result of the actions of her partner. I accept that he didn't intend to kill her (so not murder), but his actions were aggressive, and careless to a high degree. Apparently this is not considered to be an 'aggravating factor' in our legal system.

    Not only did he receive a manifestly light sentence initially, on appeal it has been reduced even further.

    Systemically, the lives of women (and children) are considered to be of less 'value' to our society, than those of men.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-man-who-ran-over-and-killed-partner-on-christmas-day-gets-home-detention-on-appeal/GZ7G4LTWSVAGXK2CUGVCDDLOBU/

    • Barfly 8.1
      22 April 2023 at 5:00 pm

      Many many years ago a woman drove into Dominion Road and stopped in my lane…I got to enjoy 2 broken arms 1 steel plate 66 stitches some permanent right arm disability a broken foot and a stuffed knee cartilidge I landed absolutely the luckiest way possible after I was 'helped' off my motorcycle all other landings were absolutely death or severely disabled. This womans punishment for "careless driving causing injury" was 6 months disqualification and a $200 fine the courts have had piss poor penalties for serious incidents for decades not all things are about "patriarchy".

      • Shanreagh 8.1.1
        22 April 2023 at 7:23 pm

        I don't this is actually limited to women though. Outside Ngaruawahia my husband and I travelling on a motorbike, were run off the road by someone pulling across in front of us. Husband, a journeyman carpenter, had severe injuries to right wrist and forearm (his hammer holding hand) 14% disability and me a broken nose only because he expertly kept us upfright until we were away from the tarmac and the back of the car
        .
        Bike was damaged, we were damaged.

        Car driver was charged with careless driving, driving over the speed limit. Fine of $100 3months disqualification as 'he needed to have a licence to drive his race horses around!'

        Neither of our anecdotes are really about the patriarchy per se Barfly, more like some things never change in the admin of justice. Though perhaps the admin of justice may be different with a different system? Sometimes the patriarchy chooses male ‘winners’ & male ‘losers’ within its own system.

  9. bwaghorn 9
    23 April 2023 at 6:16 am

    We've had woman pms for over half this century and yet nzs still cycling the plug hole rapidly!!

    At one point every too job in the Clark years was held by a woman.

    Men die earlier, more men in prison ,more men commit suicide, boys do worse at school than girls, if patriarchy is for men it ain't working to well

    • Thinker 9.1
      23 April 2023 at 8:51 am

      I'm glad you raised that, and I support your comment, too.

      There is patriarchy in NZ that still needs dealing with and there certainly has been a lot more in the past (to say the least) that feminists have put a lot of effort into removing. America, for example, is approaching its tricentennial of independence and has yet to have its first woman POTUS.

      But, like any cause that requires those who fight it to make it go away it is possible, as the old saying goes, if your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks fixable with a nail. IMHO, there's a lot that feminists would call Patriarchy that is actually more Plutocracy.

      I grew up just as feminism was getting some structure, so phrases like "old wives' tale" or "he/she's just being an old woman" were familiar to me. At uni, I went for a holiday job and was told "It's women's work, but you can have it if you want". Although I never spoke like that myself, thanks to feminists I learned how debasing, demeaning talk like that is/was to women. Those certainly are examples of patriarchy and feminists are right to fight against it. It's not just the words, but the impact of the words, like taking away opportunities for women, simply by talking about them in a certain way.

      I also learned that men 'opening up the doors for women leaders' or 'letting women have a say in the decisionmaking' is still patriarchy because it implies womens' place at the table being at the discretion of men.

      But, later on, I worked for a large organisation where we had a middle-age male at the top. He was such a good person and cared about all the people under his leadership, male and female alike. When we had a storm brewing like we had on Auckland Anniversary weekend, he sent everyone home at 2pm and closed the place down, to make sure we could get home safely. The feminists saw that as patriarchy, but I never did. I know that the male leader was very hurt by the labels he put up with because he was nothing more than a good leader who wanted all staff to know they were valued employees. Ironically, when he retired he was replaced by a woman who had little, if any, empathy and our working environment, for men and women, got harder.

      Since 1984, New Zealand has been struggling with neoliberalism and that's hurt all of us. It can't be truly patriarchal because Margaret Thatcher was a key player, globally, as was Ruth Richardson and Jenny Shipley, locally. But it seems to retain a lot of what’s left of patriarchy. IMHO, we became a plutocracy that is as rancid as much of what feminists want to eliminate. "The Establishment" that struggles to keep neoliberalism in place may be patriarchal, by being part of the generation I was at the tail end of and by being so self-important that, in most things (feminism included) they believe the country should change to suit them, rather than they change to suit the country.

      I'm guessing here, because I've only seen the establishment from a distance, that there are plenty of women who play their subservient role of networking with other women who are in the background (ladies who lunch?) and help connect the men in their lives with opportunities that they all benefit from. Many have strong minds, enough to see the patriarchy they are fomenting, but it suits them to help keep the establishment in place.

      What's my point?

      Many men and women would like to see an end to neoliberalism and the plutocracy they consider has been in place since 1984, at least. There always will be an element of plutocracy, but hopefully a new establishment will eventually take over, where food banks and homeless shelters are not seen as part of the mainstream system and where the gap between what the cleaner earns and what the CEO earns (male or female) narrows to about 7 times, which would really help people's lives. Back to where less than half of household incomes will pay the mortgage of a family's own home and where, when the economy hits good times, the OCR is put up and the banks get the lions' share of the average person's wage increase. When this all goes, a large chunk of patriarchy will surely go with it.

      It will help if feminists can narrow their fight to what remains of true patriarchy and acknowledge that some of what could seen as patriarchy is actually an equally undesirable part of New Zealand that affects us all, so we can fight it together.

    • weka 9.2
      23 April 2023 at 11:18 am

      We've had woman pms for over half this century and yet nzs still cycling the plug hole rapidly!!

      At one point every too job in the Clark years was held by a woman.

      That's individual women getting into positions of power because they know how to play the patriarchal game to their and women's advantage. It's not the end of patriarchy. The whole post is about patriarchy as a system and what system might replace that, not simply women gaining power

      Men die earlier, more men in prison ,more men commit suicide, boys do worse at school than girls, if patriarchy is for men it ain't working to well

      Yes, and in the post I said,

      The point here isn’t women/good, men/bad. It’s specifically that the patriarchy is a system that heirarchises power and gives preferential treatment to men and demotes women. In fact it basically treats everyone and all of life badly, but within that some people do better than others. Key here is that men as a class have a vested interest in maintaining the system and women have a vested interest in dismantling it. That’s a choice.

      Patriarchy treats everyone badly, including men. The problem is that men are prioritised in the system* and men have a vested interest in maintaining that because the system socialises everyone into thinking they have to grab what power they can within a hierarchy.

      *men get paid more, men hold more positions of power, systems and physical things are designed for me (universities, medicine, crash test dummies, tools). It's about the system we inherited.

  10. Sabine 10
    23 April 2023 at 11:35 am

    Here is a nice example of approved Patriachy.

    Two well to do males, homosexuals, wanting to make both the pruchasing of viable human ova and the incubation of a child 'cheaper and faster' for people such as them.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/latest/131683159/auckland-samesex-couple-love-being-dads-want-to-improve-the-horrific-process-to-make-a-family

    Christian Newman and husband Mark Edwards are loving life as parents of preschoolers Frankie, 4, and Lulu, 17 months, both born via surrogacy with donated eggs – but they say the process was “horrific” and Newman is working to make it simpler and cheaper for others.

    The family of four, plus their au pair, live on land next to Edwards’ parents north of Auckland in a home the couple designed to be like a “tropical resort”.

  11. weka 11
    23 April 2023 at 11:57 am

    reply to Sabine 10.

    jfc.

    "terrible" and yet he can't even bring himself to mention the woman/women that did all that work to grow those two children.

    Peak patriarchy.

  12. Anker 12
    23 April 2023 at 12:18 pm

    This is my understanding of it all. Women are vulnerable, because we are smaller and weaker that men physically. We give birth and are usually the ones rearing the children. Certainly, despite what some gender idealogues might say, we are the only ones who can breast feed. Men are physically wired to have and want sex, more than women (generally speaking).

    So the above makes women vulnerable. Vulnerable to being poorer (due to child care) vulnerable because we can easily be over powered by most men. Vulnerable to rape. So we are a separate sex class with specific needs.

    I think there is a lot of validity to the view that men don't fear so well, they die earlier, they suicide more and they are more likely to be the victim of homicide.

    But there is a need to focus on women and the role our biology plays in all of this. Of course the gender ideologists are trying to deny biology (especially women's biology). So we need to absolutely push back against this.

    • RedLogix 12.1
      23 April 2023 at 12:58 pm

      Without disputing any of this, I think it worth pointing out that the masculine counterpart to female vulnerability – and largely overlooked by the claim of patriarchal oppression – is the fundamental fact of male disposability.

  13. Stuart Munro 13
    23 April 2023 at 9:11 pm

    The patriarchy is, I think, best thought of as a perspective from which to examine oppressions or injustices for systematicity. To the extent that such outcomes are systematic, the line of argument is valid. But, as a tool, it is subject to inappropriate use.

    All too often such perspectives are marshalled to further emiserate classes or demographics that are neither responsible for nor benefit from the behaviours complained of. It is a tool best used with discretion.

    • weka 13.1
      23 April 2023 at 9:29 pm

      are you saying that Faludi is doing that, or writing about it?

      • Stuart Munro 13.1.1
        23 April 2023 at 10:11 pm

        No – but I have met less scrupulous uses of the term.

        Used carelessly, the patriarchy becomes an unfalsifiable assertion.

        • weka 13.1.1.1
          23 April 2023 at 11:17 pm

          Hmm, well you seem to be using it a bit carelessly. I don't know what you are meaning.

          • Stuart Munro 13.1.1.1.1
            30 April 2023 at 7:13 pm

            The Patriarchy, as a feminist bugaboo, is not readily distinguishable from the medieval notion of the Devil, who at least had a degree of reverse ineffability to explain his ubiquity.

            When the use of this concept steps outside the legitimate role as a placeholder for systemic discrimination, it becomes no better than any other invented stereotype used to demean a class of persons. One might hope that contemporary feminism would decline to stoop to that.

  14. DS 14
    24 April 2023 at 10:53 am

    Margaret Thatcher. Ruth Richardson. Jenny Shipley. Sarah Palin. Liz Truss. Paula Bennett.

    Remind me again of how capitalism and the 'patriarchy' are somehow one and the same, seeing as women are just as capable of being neoliberal kooks as men? Quite apart from the forgotten fact that while unions were still meaningful, it was more common for men to be on the Left and women on the Right?

    • weka 14.1
      24 April 2023 at 11:09 am

      as I said in the post, neoliberal capitalism/the patriarchy allows women to make limited gains where that serves the system. One of the ways that the patriarchal system is served by having rightwing women leaders is that it confuses people's thinking about feminism and moving beyond the patriarchy: Thatcher et al means that women are just as bad as men! This helps stop women from having the real power to effect system change.

      This was discussed during Shipley and Richardson's years, how Shipley in particular enabled certain RW moves because they came from a woman.

      Also, read the post with class analysis in mind. I'm not talking about individual women, I'm talking about women as a sex class as an axis of oppression and I've described pretty well how and why that oppression functions within the patriarchy. It's not hard to see how it functions within neoliberal capitalism either.

  15. Antonina 15
    24 April 2023 at 6:45 pm

    Thank you Weka

  16. Sabine 16
    24 April 2023 at 9:04 pm

    High caste women have always supported men in their endeavors, after all the are the direct beneficiaries of the high value men they attach themselves to be that via marriage, a place on a women list of a political party i.e. 'quota women' 'diveristy pick', or by any other means.
    The rules that are established for the unwashed masses by these high caste people affect men and women equally at first, but with the caveat that in order to keep the men in line the high casts allow men dominion over women and children.
    They can kill them in a fit of rage ' a crime of passion', beat them senseless 'because she/it did something to deserve it', sell them 'can't afford bread to buy so sell the 8 year old girl/boy to the 80 year old man' 'work em cause they cheap' etc. This also gives men the sole responsibility to feed and house the women and any offspring she may produce, which frankly is not an easy task, and often time will result in violence at the home due to the men just losing it, or just abandoning the women. See old times.
    But this dominion over women is something that people seem to not wanting to abandon, maybe because it is nice to be master?
    And yes, every now and then men get send to be slaughtered for the gains of these high caste people, and the women that stay back at home will do all the work the men did, all the work the women did, and keep it together. But we don’t talk about the men who die in the wars of old and rich men a lot, once a year on remembrance day, but we don’t ever speak about the women and children that get burned, shot, bombed, raped, starved and otherwise destroyed in war.
    No remembrance day for the women and children killed in war. No parades for the women that kept the factories going, the farms producing and the hospitals/other jobs staffed. Not even in death for their country are they worth equality.

    It makes perfect sense for these high caste people to point to the women in their company/party/religion/academia and use these women as a messenger tool – a willingly one i might add it pays to play along or be a believer – in order to appease those that might have other ideas.
    This is how we can have the leader of a party that can not/will not answer the simple questions to 'what is a woman' with a small quip like 'my mother is one' or something silly, but rather fumbles about with ideas of leftfield questions and preformulated answers, but a few days later that same party announces that 50 % of them are women. What is a Woman? Like seriuosly, how can you have 50% of something that you can not identify/define?
    But is them that will re-define what women are and what they are allowed to be and currently who is actually one, and if there is dissent, well, remember it was perfectly legal to burn witches, and rather then be afraid of the men burning the women and girls of all ages the good, the decent people were afraid of the witches. Or so we are let to believe.

    The fact that males can appropriate womanhood, girlhood and actual females are being told to shut up, the fact that grown ass adults that are wealthy people buy life human babies on the open baby selling market and complain about the cost of womb lease and ova extraction, the fact that we are sacrificing the healthy bodies of children on the alter of gender theory and the future be damned lets me believe that we are still very much in old testament biblical patriarchy.
    We got us some new toys, social media and pretend sophistication but other then that, we are no different to Abraham who raped his slave for the child that his wife could not bear and who did offer his first born as a sacrifice when demanded by the higher authority (god) to do so.

    Maybe the word patriarchy needs to be replaced with something more modern, but we seem to be regressing as a society.

    • roblogic 16.1
      27 April 2023 at 4:16 pm

      good thoughts.

      as RL noted above, working class men have always been disposable units of labour or cannon fodder for empires.

      perhaps patriarchy isn’t the threat to human wellbeing that some think… perhaps the actual enemy of human flourishing is the system of aristocratic privilege that reduces humans to wage & debt slavery and vampirically extracts their lifetime of work and creativity via economic rents

      • Sabine 16.1.1
        28 April 2023 at 8:18 am

        As have women.

        Can we please just spare a thought for all the women that died in child birth birthing every human being.
        Human beings that were bred for canon fodder, human beings that were bred to work the fields and the mines. Human beings that were sold on the open market for a capital gain.

        Can we please spare a thought for all the women that died in war- directly by war fare, by starvation, by being the loot to spoil by the invading winners?
        Ditto for kids.
        Women were sold as slaves as much as men. Women were bred to create new slaves.
        Women are still sold into sexual slavery, or working slavery as much as men – see Qatar and the world cup. The Bosnian war and their rape camps come to mind.

        Men fight wars, and women try to keep the fire going, keep the country going, working in ammunition depots, flying planes, being nurses and heck even spies. The only thing that in the old world women were not to do is actively fighting. And there are stories about the thirty year war that the women that followed the soldiers – the wifes/mothers – did fight.

        Men die in war fighting and those that survive will get medals, and pensions and day of remembrance and statues.
        Women die in war because they are just spoils/loot of the war, and as i said, there is not one statue, not one day of remembrance for the actions of women during war time.
        They will get no war pension, they will get no medals, they will get nothing.
        Both suffer from PTSD and mental ill health, but women are told to shut up and put up, cause the bloke saw war. Fair enough i guess, unless one is the women that has to live with a bloke broken by war.

        If we were to look at current war zones, Iraq, Afghanistan, and even UK then yes, the men do the fighting and dying, but in the end the women too care their share of war, prostitutes, workers, and fighters even and raising their children – the next generation of cannon fodder in a warzone.

        Patriarchy is just a nice academic word that someone coined a long time ago to put a nice shiny of veneer on our societies pretending to be more civil and social then say the Roman Empire, or he Persian Empire or any other Empire.

        A handful of few – chosen by god, or by greed and 'support' of a strong man will rule for everyone else.

        And in the old day you were property to the lord of the manor, you worked for him, defended him, and he had some responsibilities towards you but no one really enforced that. The Magna Carta came along, and people started realizing that between them and the man chosen by god to be king was actually very little difference and thus all male are created equal – mothers and daughters needn't apply, and can we have some 'human rights' laws. And in the western world we have worked on that and come to some good solutions and now we are seemingly intent on destroying the good work by saying that not all men are equal and that is fine so as long as everyone has the same equity of outcome – which of course is laughable as euqal equity does not exist, Russia, China, Kambodia, and other countries that tried to have socialistic minded societies have proven that in the end there will always be a strong man who will tell everyone else how to live and which rules apply to them – sex based, not identity based. And again, mothers and daughters needn't apply, cause they can no longer be defined and something that can't be defined can't have rights, nor can these rights be protected.

        Take abortion, in the west women are scared of a government that would take away their right to have an abortion, in China until the one child policy was scrapped women underwent mandatory abortions if they already had a child. Patriarchy in action. One nation capitalistic and free, one communist and not free – outcome bad for the citizens of both countries, but mainly for women.
        Me i am afraid of both, the capitalists and the communists, as my body to them is something that they don't attach meaning full rights to at best and that they believe belongs to them at worst, and are quite happy to remove these rights if it suits their purposes – see currently NZ self ID. Btw, did you know that the first public toilet in NZ came about in 1927 on K-road, and the first sex segregated prison came about in 1916. 🙂 Rights, a fungible and can be granted and taken with the stroke of a pen.

        So we really need to stop pretending that we have 'human rights' We don't. We have rights that we accord to each others because we think it makes society better, but these rights can be taken away – by lawmakers, or by a rent a mob that prevents a bunch of women from meeting in a public space to discuss matters that pertain to women and to politically meet and organize. Rights that they should have had under the law, but that were not given to them, because …………..- them wanting to exercise these rights made them bigots, phobes, and 'nazis', or 'christian faschists'.

    • roblogic 16.2
      27 April 2023 at 4:29 pm

      Agree with the points about the brahmin caste of women… this includes the new generation of aggressive, highly privileged, spoilt brats we saw at Albert Park last month, revelling in their imagined oppression and its imputed sanction to an emotional frenzy of shadow transference

      The upper classes get to enjoy luxury beliefs and are insulated by wealth and power from the worst effects of said beliefs. Meanwhile women with considerably less privilege are punched in the face and forced to endure the selfish behaviour of AGP males invading private spaces

      It’s not exactly patriarchy, but there is definitely a power dynamic here. The wellington lanyard class and its obnoxious offspring imposing their quasi religious morality on everyone, using direct force rather than democratic means.

      • Sabine 16.2.1
        28 April 2023 at 8:28 am

        Oh that was patriarchy unashamed, unabashed and in full force supported by media, Politian and influencers.

        What you saw was exactly the same that happened in Europe during the witch burnings and the time when males put the scold on women to stop them from speaking up.

        What you saw was exactly the same as the Chinese kids under Mao that put the dunce hat on teachers and elders and forced them to recant and beg forgiveness for their wrong thing.

        What you saw is Patriachy in action. Enforced by those that uphold Patriachy, the educated class of the middle and upper well to do people of this country, those that think that the rules they are clamoring for will never apply to them.

        In fact, every person with a uterus in Parliament is essentially the personification of Serena Joy from the Handmaids Tale. The well married, rich and well educated uterus haver that wrote about stay at home mums and a Christly life, and such, just to find out that once her utopia was realized that she too in the end is just a uterus haver. And those that know the book know that Serena Joy has dominion over the women beneath her, but essentially any man can harm her with impunity. Cause Serena Joy in the end has no more rights then the Handmaid in her patriarchy that she helped to bring forth.

        • roblogic 16.2.1.1
          28 April 2023 at 9:50 pm

          We are down the rabbit hole. The trans cult is sowing the wind.

          We will reap the whirlwind soon, when the truth cannot be denied any longer

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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Attacking the smartest and most resilient people in the room is never a good idea
    Chris Trotter writes – Are you a Brahmin or a Merchant? Or, are you merely one of those whose lives are profoundly influenced by the decisions of Brahmins and Merchants? Those are the questions that are currently shaping the politics of New Zealand and the entire West. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • A fortune-telling failure, surely, if the tarot cards can’t see a bulldozer coming
    RNZ reports –  It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • The climate battleground heats up
    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Bernard’ s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Tuesday, May 14
    The Transport Minister has set a hard 'fiscal envelope' of $6.54 billion for transport capital spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy is settling into a state of suspended animation as the Government’s funding freezes and job cuts chill confidence and combine with stubbornly high interest rates to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on why anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitic
    To be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Climate change is making hurricanes more destructive
    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Because hurricanes are one of the big-ticket weather disasters that humanity has to face, climate misinformers spend a lot of effort muddying the waters on whether climate change is making hurricanes more damaging. With the official start to the hurricane ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Wayne Brown’s PT Plan
    Yesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Potaka's Private Universe.
    And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Our slow regional councils
    The Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law after all
    Back in April, the High Court surprised everyone by ruling that Ministers are above the law, at least as far as the Waitangi Tribunal is concerned. The reason for this ruling was "comity" - the idea that the different branches of government shouldn't interfere with each other's functions. Which makes ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • NZTA takes the wheel after govt gives it the road map for regional roads (and puts a speed governor ...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Tolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Change in Catalonia?
    or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Having an enrolment date is not depriving anyone of a vote
    David Farrar writes –  Radio NZ report: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said the Electoral Commission should make sure the system ran smoothly and “taking away the right of thousands of people to vote” was not the answer. “Thousands of people enroled and voted on the day. If ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Perhaps house prices don’t always go up
    Don Brash writes –  There was a rather revealing headline in the Herald on Sunday today (12 May). It read “One in 8 Auckland homes on market were bought during boom, may now sell for loss”. The first line of text noted that “New data shows one in ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Can’t read, can’t write, can’t comprehend – and won’t think…?
    Mike Grimshaw writes –  At a time when universities are understandably nervous regarding the establishment of the University Advisory Group (UAG) and the Science System Advisory Group (SSAG) it may seem strange – or even fool-hardy – to state that there are long-standing issues in the tertiary sector ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Time for some perspective
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  A lack of perspective can make something quite large or important seem small or irrelevant. Against a backdrop of high-profile, negative statistics it is easy to overlook the positive. For instance, the fact that 64 percent of Maori are employed is rarely reported. For ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Will NZ Herald’s ‘poor journalism’ cost lives?
    Earlier this year, the Herald ran a series of articles amounting to a sustained campaign against raised pedestrian crossings, by reporter Bernard Orsman. A key part of that campaign concerned the raised crossings being installed as part of the Pt Chevalier to Westmere project, with at least 10 articles over ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to May 19 and beyond
    TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 19 include:PM Christopher Luxon is expected to hold his weekly post-cabinet news conference at 4:00pm on Monday.Parliament is not sitting this week. It resumes next week for a two-week sitting session up to and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Webworm Popup Photos!
    Hi,Thanks to all the beautiful Worms who came to the LA Webworm popup on Saturday.It was a way to celebrate the online store we launched last week — and it was super special.As I talk about a lot, I really value our community here — and it was a BLAST ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #19
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 5, 2024 thru Sat, May 11, 2024. (Unfortunate) Story of the week "Grief that stops at despair is an ending that I and many others, most notably ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • DJ Fred Again – Assurance report received
    "On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden.  “I raised my concerns after being ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago

  • District Court Judges appointed
    Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago

  • Unions should put learning ahead of ideology
    Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools.     “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago

  • Craig Stobo appointed as chair of FMA
    Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago

  • Budget 2024 invests in lifeguards and coastguard
    Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago

  • New Zealand and Tuvalu reaffirm close relationship
    New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says.  “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019.  “It is my pleasure ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • New Zealand calls for calm, constructive dialogue in New Caledonia
    New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.  “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.  “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • New Zealand welcomes Samoa Head of State
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Island Direct eligible for SuperGold Card funding
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Further sanctions against Russia
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • One year on from Loafers Lodge
    A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Pre-Budget speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand and Vanuatu to deepen collaboration
    New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says.    “This ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Penk travels to Peru for trade meetings
    Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Minister attends global education conferences
    Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Education Minister thanks outgoing NZQA Chair
    Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Joint statement of Christopher Luxon and Emmanuel Macron: Launch of the Christchurch Call Foundation
    New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online.   This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Panel announced for review into disability services
    Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Minister welcomes Police gang unit
    Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand expresses regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners.  “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Chief of Defence Force appointed
    Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government puts children first by repealing 7AA
    Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Defence Minister to meet counterparts in UK, Italy
    Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Charter schools to lift educational outcomes
    The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • COVID-19 Inquiry terms of reference consultation results received
    “The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • The Pacific family of nations – the changing security outlook
    Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests  Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues  Ladies and Gentlemen,  Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru    It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • NZ and Papua New Guinea to work more closely together
    Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Driving ahead with Roads of Regional Significance
    The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand congratulates new Solomon Islands government
    A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office.    “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand supports UN Palestine resolution
    New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Speech to the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium
    Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • $571 million for Defence pay and projects
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Climate change – mitigating the risks and costs
    New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Getting new job seekers on the pathway to work
    Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Accelerating Social Investment
    A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says.  “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Getting Back on Track
    Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with  your Board and team, for hosting me.   I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ – European Union ties more critical than ever
    Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith,   Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States,   Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us.   Ladies and gentlemen -    In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations.   ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Therapeutic Products Act to be repealed
    The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Decisions on Wellington City Council’s District Plan
    The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Rape Awareness Week: Government committed to action on sexual violence
    Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston.  “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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