The right bring out the big guns

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, May 25th, 2021 - 39 comments
Categories: Budget 2021, Carmel Sepuloni, jacinda ardern, labour, Maori Issues, Maori seats, national, Pacific, peter dunne - Tags:

This is day five of the post Ruthenasia era and the response from the right is really underwhelming.

I am not surprised.

There has been an epic change in public opinion about benefits.  It seems that Covid has made us realise that we are all in this together and that making sure those of us who are struggling the most have a decent quality of life is actually a good thing.

In February this year Radio New Zealand reported on a poll that did something radical, suggested there was a majority in favour of a benefit increase.  From Harry Locke at Radio New Zealand:

A survey has found seven out of 10 New Zealanders believe the government should increase income support for those on low wages or not in paid work.

The UMR poll was commissioned by a group of more than 40 organisations, including unions, social service providers, and kaupapa Māori groups.

It found approval for increasing income support was largely consistent across salary groups, age ranges, renters and owners; and across the political spectrum.

There was a majority of support by voters for the four major parties, led by Greens’ supporters at 89 percent in favour.

“This poll shows that ensuring liveable incomes for all would be a popular move for the government, across the board, as well as the right thing to do,” Janet McAllister from Child Poverty Action Group said.

“Even two-thirds (66 percent) of those with high household incomes – over $100,000 – agree the government should increase income support for those financially less fortunate than themselves.

“Our compassionate and inclusive approach to caring for the most vulnerable during Covid-19 outbreaks served us well. We must take the same common sense approach to ensure everyone, whether they are working, caring for children, living with a disability or illness, learning, or have lost their jobs before or because of Covid-19, has a liveable income.”

This finding strongly recorded a change in the public psyche.  Whereas 6 years ago too many of us were prepared to buy into the line that beneficiaries were inferior to the rest of us, the appearance of abject poverty on steroids and of kids living in cars and still trying to continue with their education, has made most of us realise that business as usual was not a good thing.

There has been some media commentary on the change but they are missing the big picture.

Including this effort by Andrea Vance.  She clearly does not understand the nuance of what has happened to Labour over the past decade.

She said this:

It has taken a parliamentary generation of chaos to get to this point. Robertson, Jacinda Ardern, and their fellow ministers Stuart Nash, Chris Hipkins, Phil Twyford and Kelvin Davis entered Parliament as Labour reeled from the defeat of the Helen Clark-led administration.

For more than a decade, the party struggled to shrug off a reputation as weak on economics as it lurched between leaders.

In 2017, Ardern presented as the right candidate, striking at the right time with an image and message that resonated for that election cycle.

Across the world, voters were reacting against economic insecurity and inequality, blowing apart the boundaries of conventional politics.

Other democracies delivered Trumpism, Brexit, and the regimes of Jair Bolsonaro, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Narendra Modi, and Viktor Orbán.

New Zealand voters returned their own surprise: the Labour-NZ First-Greens Cerberus. Covid-19 and an apprehensive electorate further delayed Labour’s reforming agenda.

But Budget 2021 marks Labour’s return to its roots as the voice of those left behind. The political status quo of the last decade has been seduced by the idea that a booming economy vanquishes poverty, deprivation and social exclusion.

She missed some rather important features.  For instance Carmel Sepuloni, who has driven is driving the implementation of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group recommendations also entered Parliament in 2008.

And Carmel said this in her Maiden Speech:

During the 1990s I saw the political and economic climate of the time pull the rug of dignity out from under the feet of hard-working New Zealanders. There is very little that can match the degradation felt when men and women are unable to provide for their families. Unable to cope with the miniscule weekly sum that my father was allocated to look after his family, he made the decision to leave us and seek employment in Australia. Yes, he migrated to Australia in 1995, not 2005.

I observed a National Party Minister sarcastically reciting in the House the other day: “I remember the 1990s.”, in a disdainful tone. Her banter signalled National members’ tiredness of being reminded of their wrongdoings from the past. However, let me draw on a well-known whakataukī. “Titiro ki muri kia whakatika ā mua”—look to the past to proceed into the future. This may be a Māori proverb, but it is a concept that is shared by Pacific peoples. The memories of our Pacific peoples are very long indeed. We strongly believe in looking to our pasts to find our presents and to inform the decisions we make, going into the future. With that in mind, it is of little wonder that the vast majority of Pacific peoples remain Labour voters—the dawn raids under the Muldoon Government and high unemployment rates and low wages of the 1990s have ensured this legacy. This is reinforced by the list of achievement for Pacific people attained under the leadership of the Labour Government over the past 9 years.

Is it not ironic that I discuss the appalling employment conditions of the 1990s under a National Government, in light of the response by the new National Government to the recession that we now face? In the early stages of the 1990s the National Government introduced the Employment Contracts Act, which was to impact negatively on the rights of workers. Now, in late 2008, the introduction of the 90-day bill, which also serves to negatively impact on the rights of workers, hails the beginning of another ominous National Government term.

Vance does not appreciate or pay homage to the effect that Sepuloni and other members of Labour’s Maori Caucus and Pacifica Caucus have had on the party.  Currently these groups have 25 members in a caucus with 65 MPs.

The combination of Manaakitanga and Aiga and the importance of community mean that the Maori Caucus and Pacifica Caucus are unashamedly left wing.  And this is clearly affecting Labour’s policy direction.

If Vance’s take was poor Peter Dunne’s recent comments were off the chart.  He thought it was ironic that Jacinda Ardern remembered the damage caused by the mother of all budgets.  From Newshub:

“I thought it was a bit ironic – the Prime Minister recalling her recollections of the 1991 Budget as an 11-year-old … I think most of us would struggle to recall our recollections of significant political events at the age of 11.”

I don’t know what Dunne was doing when he was 11 but many activists I know were interested in politics even at a young age.  For me I was 11 at the time of the 1972 general election and the Time for a Change campaign that saw Norm Kirk’s Labour swept to power.  I can recall it vividly especially the euphoria of election night.  Hell I was even delivering pamphlets for Labour at the time.

Carmel Sepuloni spoke eloquently of her memory of what happened when she was a 14 year old.  And Jacinda was voted by her seventh form class the most likely to become Prime Minister because of her deep interest in politics while she was at school.  Dunne’s comment display a complete lack of understanding of what makes her work.

Dunne was famously described by David Lange as “[a] man whose life is so boring that if it flashed past he wouldn’t be in it.”  And I am not surprised that he cannot comprehend the idea that young people can be passionate about politics.  I met him in 1983 when he spoke to a Young Labour event and even then he was dour, full of himself, totally lacking in progressive political ideals and was displaying easily recognisable careerist tendencies.

And to the rest of the media.  Please pay more attention to Labour’s Maori and Pacific caucuses.  They are power houses in the parliamentary party.

39 comments on “The right bring out the big guns ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Darren Watson 1
    25 May 2021 at 8:35 am

    I knew all about Savage and Lee and the welfare state by the time I was ten years old. Stuff that happened decades before I was born. There are these things called books and even older people who do this thing called talk, Peter.

  2. Adrian 2
    25 May 2021 at 8:42 am

    I was 7 and on my fathershoulders outside the Marlborough Express office way past my bedtime watching the results of the1957 Labour victory come in and the absolute delight of the crowd and can remember thinking that boy this is exciting, and whatever it is, it makes people happy, so yeah, it was politics and I was hooked for life.

    • mac1 2.1
      25 May 2021 at 9:29 am

      Yes, Adrian. Same story but in Christchurch just turned eight observing my father's delight at the 1957 election result. Parliament was always on in our house and my father knew who was speaking. Nordmeyer's Black Budget affected me as I could not access English comics as well. In 1960, I remember the Tour issue, and in 1962 the Cuban crisis was very worrying.
      Like Jacinda, I every day copying my father read the newspaper, the Press. I attended my first street corner meeting, asking a question of Harry Lake, in 1966 and gave a lesson in politics to a National Party door knocker. At school I was known as the class communist and it was predicted I would become MP for Papanui! Like music, politics was part of the life of our family and an interest in both was kindled by parents and older siblings.
      My brother just rang and he told me of a 1960 election story when he heard a carpenter working on our shop floor tell a friend walking down to the school to vote that if he voted National he'd cut off his head with his sharpest saw! He remembered the door knocker story, too. So, Peter Dunne, who went to the same school that I did, should know that politics was part and parcel of Irish Catholic working class Christchurch.

  3. Descendant Of Smith 3
    25 May 2021 at 8:58 am

    One of my nicknames at primary school was red because of my socialist interests and my left leaning politics. Coming from poor families with histories of poverty, land deprivation, grandmothers raising children alone without any welfare system, violence, and so on there was a deep understanding of how state housing and welfare assistance had improved so many, many lives.

    An older person was recalling the other day where the tent cities were in the city they grew up in before state housing came along, likewise we grew up knowing people previously living in caves with whitewashed walls, we knew about polio, and the Spanish flu and rubella and vaccination – there things weren't mysteries at 7 or 8 let alone 11.

  4. ghostwhowalksnz 4
    25 May 2021 at 8:58 am

    When Dunne was 11 it would have been 1965. Im sure he has a personal recollection of the events like counter culture, protests and Vietnam war that were in the news at the time. I know that I do. In that era people had newspapers home delivered, my father also had a Time magazine subscription. Other people avidly followed pop music, for both it was a chance to follow something outside your own family and school.

    • Jenny how to get there 4.1
      25 May 2021 at 11:11 am

      "When Dunne was 11 it would have been 1965. Im sure he has a personal recollection of the events like counter culture, protests and Vietnam war that were in the news at the time. I know that I do."
      ghostwhowalksnz

      Peter Dunne may have been completely oblivious.
      As it was probably about this age that Peter Dunne picked up his life long interest in bowties. Requiring many hours spent gazing at his reflection in the mirror practicing how to tie them properly.

    • Jenny How to get there 4.2
      30 May 2021 at 11:33 pm

      Never underestimate 11 year olds.

      Newsboys' strike of 1899

      From Wikipedia

      Newsboys' strike of 1899Newsboys and newsgirl. Getting afternoon papers. New York City. - NARA - 523329.jpg

      Newsboys and newsgirl getting afternoon papers in New York City (1910)

      The newsboys' strike of 1899 was a U.S. uouth led campaign to force change in the way that Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolf Hearst's newspapers compensated their force of newsboys or newspaper hawkers. The strikers demonstrated across New York City for several days, effectively stopping circulation of the two papers, along with the news distribution for many New England cities. The strike lasted two weeks, causing Pulitzer's New York World to decrease its circulation from 360,000 papers sold per day to 125,000.[1] Although the price of papers was not lowered, the strike was successful in forcing the World and Journal to offer full buybacks to their sellers, thus increasing the amount of money that newsies received for their work.[2]

  5. Incognito 5
    25 May 2021 at 9:00 am

    Well done, MickySavage! Although the title is lost on me …

    I think you were meant to write that Carmel Sepuloni is driving rather than has driven the implementation of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group recommendations, as it is still very much a work in progress. Unless you want to invite scathing comments from the usual suspects wink

    I just happened to refer again to Peter Dunne’s Greta moment over at OM devil

    • alwyn 5.1
      25 May 2021 at 11:20 am

      I see that Sepuloni's maiden speech is quoted. I would have thought she might have made an attempt to get her history correct in such a significant speech but it seems not.

      She said "the dawn raids under the Muldoon Government". What a shame she didn't give the full story. The Dawn Raids were instigated by the Kirk Labour Government after all. "In 1974, the Norman Kirk-led Labour government used this Act to focus on Samoans and Tongans," and

      "On 13 March 1974, police and immigration officials raided Tongan households in Onehunga. Thirteen Tongans were charged with being illegal immigrants and/or failing to produce a passport.

      On 18 March, a further 21 Tongans were arrested

      Church services were interrupted, and the raids produced a sense of shame, fear and uncertainty

      In 1974, 107 Tongans, 24 Samoans and two Americans were deported.".

      A shame that Ms Sepuloni chose to invent a rather different history for her maiden speech.
      https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/dawn-raids

      • Incognito 5.1.1
        25 May 2021 at 12:25 pm

        Firstly, your reply has got nothing to do with my comment @ 5.

        Secondly, Sepuloni did not “invent a rather different history for her maiden speech”. It was a maiden speech in Parliament, not a concise and comprehensive lecture on a specific part of NZ History.

        Thirdly, comparing the actions of Kirk and his government with Muldoon and his mob is a strawman.

        Fourthly, your comments under this Post are essentially #whatabout and #theydidittoo. In addition, you’re doing your usual trick of making snide remarks about a public person to detract from the essence of the OP. Take it to OM if you don’t want to engage under this OP.

        Fifthly, thank you for reading the above.

        Sixthly, see you at OM.

        • alwyn 5.1.1.1
          25 May 2021 at 2:20 pm

          I would certainly agree that my comment doesn't tie in to yours.

          It was meant to be stand alone but I must have hit reply on your comment. first and didn't notice after where it had gone. Sorry about that bit.

    • Patricia Bremner 5.2
      26 May 2021 at 10:42 am

      Yes, many of them are "Pop guns" now!!

  6. I Feel Love 6
    25 May 2021 at 9:03 am

    I was about 6 when I saw Muldoon swimming at Hatfield's beach and recognised him as the PM of our country. Also I remember the big deal around us becoming nuke free when I was about 10.

  7. lprent 7
    25 May 2021 at 9:16 am

    The point about the 1990s economic disaster that Carmel Sepuloni made, especially the benefit cuts and the employment contracts act was correct. It reverberates to this day.

    If you talk to my partner who is quite a lot younger than I am, the impacts of the those cuts was scarring to her life. There was no limited work available. Her intelligent partner during a large chunk of it had mental health issues, but would find himself regularly cut off from support because the WINZ would 'lose' his paperwork. A quite evident deliberate policy at the time.

    When I met him, he'd been picked up by the police and held over a weekend. It was on an old warrant for not repaying advances from WINZ – which he had done at the time. It was WINZ being incompetent and not cleaning up their own stupidity. Eventually he escaped NZ but died of medical misadventure because he was pretty terrified of getting in the clutches of medical debt in the US.

    Same for almost any woman raising kids on her own at the time like my sister. Again it appeared to me to be deliberate. Called to punitive consultations to give the answer the same stupid questions – but carefully designed to disrupt picking kids up from kindergardens, break into courses, or to interfere in looking for part-time work. They were a complete waste of the taxes I was forking out.

    These are the policies of simple punitive harassment. They are a complete waste of time and resources – which gets blindingly obvious when you look at the overheads on superannuation compared to things like DPB and unemployment benefits.

    And I'd add to the chorus. I got interested in politics when I was 10 or 11. Mostly because I was obsessed by history. In particular the causes of world wars including the ongoing cold war that overshadowed my young life. I think that I read just about every book in the War Memorial library by the time I stopped using it – when I went to university.

    Peter Dunne is in my opinion – just a complete idiot who has a problem seeing past his own clothes.

    • RedLogix 7.1
      25 May 2021 at 10:23 am

      Eventually he escaped NZ but died of medical misadventure because he was pretty terrified of getting in the clutches of medical debt in the US.

      That is one sad story there.

      I've not taken the opportunity to say this before, but if the 'end of Ruthenasia' is a fantastic step in the right direction. A decade later than necessary, but finally we go there.

      Now if was accompanied by a cultural shift throughout our state social sector agencies, that insisted that helping people had to be their first priority – then we might finally turn an important corner.

      Incidentally I'm seeing something similar to this happening right now in my own family – a powerful state agency failing to control a rogue individual with a mean, spiteful agenda.

      Here’s another good example of the kind of shitty nonsense that goes on in state agencies with too much power and not enough accountability:

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/443299/new-coronial-findings-into-fatal-crash-say-blaming-driver-was-inaccurate-and-unfair

      • Obtrectator 7.1.1
        26 May 2021 at 12:10 pm

        Looks like another example of "blame the poor bugger who got killed and can't answer back, because it's most convenient for everyone else".

  8. alwyn 8
    25 May 2021 at 10:09 am

    The Prime Minister does seem to have a rather odd approach to events from the past. When comparing today to 30 years ago comparisons are quite fair. However when she was asked, in an article in Saturday's Herald, she seemed to think that nothing should be said about times only about 12 years ago.

    When she was asked about the Clark Government's actions she replied "Ardern said it was not fair to compare now with a government from more than a decade ago." and then "So I don't think it's fair to make a judgement on a government that many years ago."

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/budget-2021-pm-jacinda-ardern-on-border-re-opening-covid-fund-benefits-boost/FTYZOE5WWNZT6XQO3SYT525HX4/

    Isn't it amazing that things that happened when she was a child remain so important today but that things which were much more recent, and about which she will have personal knowledge are so far ago that they don't merit any discussion.

    Could it be that she things must be ignored if she was anywhere near them and that some blame might be fairly applied to her? After all, wasn't she an advisor in the Prime Minister's Office during the Clark Government? What advice did she give?

    • ghostwhowalksnz 8.1
      25 May 2021 at 10:29 am

      Shes merely saying that Clarks coalition government was constrained by its partners – including Dunne and Peters, just as she was before recent election.

      Of course it you that comparing different things , the big cuts of the Richardson era where certainly memorable. The recession that followed the mother of all budgets was a part of that

      • alwyn 8.1.1
        25 May 2021 at 11:06 am

        What is your excuse for the 1999-2002 term?

        The Government was comprised of Labour and the Alliance, with Confidence and Support from the Green Party. You aren't really going to claim that The Alliance and the Greens were a constraint on what Clark wanted to achieve are you?

        And Ms Ardern wasn't claiming anything of the sort. If she had been she would have said so, rather than trying to dismiss it from any consideration at all.

        Oh well perhaps Jacinda simply doesn't remember, or at least wish to remember, the Clark era. Are you old enough to remember the joke about the 1960s? "If you can remember anything about the sixties you weren't really there". Maybe Jacinda was there in the noughties.

        • Ad 8.1.1.1
          25 May 2021 at 11:28 am

          The 1999-2002 term is something to be proud of.

          Two key welfare moves included the formation of Working For Families and the formation of NZSuper.

          As usual few recognise the devastating mess that National left Labour to put right.

          Much more importantly, instead of complaining about the recent history of social welfare, we can now celebrate the major moves that have been made. The most important of which in my view is the $30 billion of subsidy that kept the unemployment rate around 5% and stopped the social welfare bill exploding.

          History is already littered with the couterfactuals of countries who instead went for the low-intervention austerity approach in 2020.

        • ghostwhowalksnz 8.1.1.2
          25 May 2021 at 11:46 am

          "wasn't claiming anything of the sort. If she had been she would have said so"

          Yet its OK for you to claim stuff 'she should of said' then. The Ruthenasia cuts and the following recession were huge at the time and well remembered. From 2000 onwards are we supposed to remember what didnt happen as well.

  9. Ad 9
    25 May 2021 at 10:13 am

    If the right had coherent guns, they would be decrying New Zealand's corpulent real estate investments which suck the capital that should be going into increasing investment into productive business.

    Productive businesses generating strong innovation are the machines that drive higher salaries and wages.

    And any conservative party moaning about non-retirement welfare when most of our welfare goes on propping up old people doesn't have any courage let alone focus.

    We are well overdue to see any party have a crack at Fonterra for rapidly weakening its global position, Synlait in decline, Westland Milk sold off for little good end, A2 Milk in near terminal decline, and most still obsessed with volume over value with all the environmental effects with that.

    The companies doing well in this country are those closest to the public subsidy: housing and civil construction companies. Neither known for their innovation or ability to raise their eyes higher than a spade.

    I seriously cannot believe that National have left business to pretty much do the same stuff they did before this most massive of economic shocks. Bayly in particular has a braincell to rub together but has just left the economic development field wide open for Nash to do what he wants.

    Like the current implosions of the US Republican Party, we need National to show that they can generate positions that advance the common interest of New Zealand and not fuck around about it.

    • Stuart Munro 9.1
      25 May 2021 at 5:33 pm

      If the right had coherent guns,

      The right in NZ have not been principled for a generation or more. They are a rump faction – they don't have policy so much as habit. And I think we're seeing, patchily given the unemployment insurance misstep, a rebirth of Labour's principles. After the long drought or Rogergnomic austerity, they cannot help but be well received, as well as motivating the development of fresh policy that addresses actual contemporary issues. Been a long time coming.

  10. Patricia Bremner 10
    25 May 2021 at 10:23 am

    That photo says it all Mickey. A self absorbed self satisfied man. His comment is meant to make people doubt Jacinda Ardern's contention that she cared when young.

    Her back story of the effects of the contracts act resonates with many, as it was a deliberate attack on people's conditions of work, and the small towns like Morrinsville were impacted.

    At eleven I was living in a house provided by the Government to encourage couples to live and work in then remote areas, in this case coal mining Bennydale in the King Country.

    My father was a union member and also served on the mine rescue group. Many political meetings were held in our home. I was very aware of issues of the day, as I was nine during the great strikes of 1951, the lock outs and the results of community helping each other, to the point where that was outlawed for a time.

    I remember Kirk being elected and the joy of ordinary folk, and the unity we felt in our anti nuclear protest about Mururoa in 1973 So yes there are markers where society is seriously impacted and children notice.

    Peter Dunne is very egocentric in his beliefs. Wow, at eleven he didn't notice political situations so no other child would? He is clearly the centre of his own universe!!

    • RedLogix 10.1
      25 May 2021 at 10:33 am

      The story of what happened in Benneydale during the 51 strike rather astonished me when I first encountered it – deserves to be far better known. Do you have a reference to it that you like?

      • Patricia Bremner 10.1.1
        25 May 2021 at 1:54 pm

        Only personally lived experience Red Logix. It was amazing as unions joined, became too powerful and political for the Government of the day, so their assets were confiscated, and the affected members turned on their own. That scarred my father as he hunted and fished cut firewood and provided relief those 151 days, but was spat on in the resulting political fallout. Two things stayed with me, his knowledge and disdain for some figures of the day. Some he felt were looking to their own long term positions, and therefore "sat on the fence" perhaps Jim Anderton was right, as he lived to fight another day. I personally believe Nash also sided with the FOL. I have only memories and I am six months out from 80 yrs. Many miners sided with the Wharf workers as they had agreed to support, but they were like the men who returned from the war, who found it hard to share with others who had no concept of the hardships.smiley so few books were written, except the Government record of course. Thank you for replying, and I note I left an 'e" out of Benneydale .

    • Ad 10.2
      25 May 2021 at 11:29 am

      You should check out the plans Kiwirail has for Bennydale.

      Quite enormous, and go for their Hearing in August.

  11. gsays 11
    25 May 2021 at 10:34 am

    My maternal grandparents had a photo of the Queen on the wall. Beside it and slightly above was one of Mickey Savage.

    I'm remember asking who he was and why was he on the wall.

  12. joe90 12
    25 May 2021 at 11:07 am

    I have the framed photo of Savage that took pride of place, smack dab in the middle, over my grandparent's mantle piece.

    Being good left footers, any image of the proddy royals was blasphemous.

    edit:

  13. Bazza64 13
    25 May 2021 at 12:47 pm

    Agree that benefit increases were well overdue. The sad thing is housing costs are so extreme that the current increases are just a drop in the bucket. A larger benefit increase would help, but then some would argue the $ just go into the landlords pockets & support the higher housing costs.

  14. millsy 14
    25 May 2021 at 1:03 pm

    I turned 11 in 1991. I remember only too well the fall out with regards to the benefit cuts, market rents for state housing, ECA and privatisation.

    I also remember listening to talkback in the years after that, of boomer after boomer* denying that there was any problems and that people should just "get a job".

    I personally regard the 1991 Budget as worse than Rogernomics, as even during that period, they at least pretended to maintain the social safety net, state housing, etc

    • mac1 14.1
      25 May 2021 at 2:35 pm

      In that time you may have listening to the 'silent generation' 1928-45 who would have been aged in 1991 from 46-63. By 2000 the silent generation would have been 55-72 years old, and in 2010 65-82.

      The boomers were aged 27-46 in 1991, in 2000 aged 36-55, in 2010 aged 46-65.

      In 1991, the Great Depression was some 60 years back in history and remembered easily by my parents who predated the silent generation. Your talkback radio critics in 2000 could easily have been born during WW1!

      As a boomer, born 1946-64, I know my place in talkback history.

      • millsy 14.1.1
        25 May 2021 at 2:38 pm

        I see 'boomer' as more of a value set, than a demographic now,

        • mac1 14.1.1.1
          25 May 2021 at 3:37 pm

          Ah, that set who banned the Bomb, opposed intervention in Vietnam, opposed racist rugby tours, opposed Omega stations, American bases in NZ, opposed nuclear warships in NZ, opposed French Bomb testing, Hikoi'd, marched, demonstrated,; that boomer value set? 🙂

  15. Chris 15
    25 May 2021 at 4:27 pm

    Dunne's attention seeking is cringeworthy. It's unbelievable MSM gives it to him, especially if his blog's anything to go by. The only interest he gets is from spammers, but he still keeps going. Poor bastard. The guy’s desperate.

    http://honpfd.blogspot.com/2021/

  16. peter sim 16
    25 May 2021 at 8:25 pm

    What richardson did with the mother of all budgets is well documented. and recorded.

    At what age one becomes aware of it is irrelevant, as is p dunne.

    Why do the media keep giving him oxygen?

  17. Warren Doney 17
    29 May 2021 at 2:37 pm

    If Carmel Sepuloni was driving the changes she did it with the handbrake on.

    After the WEAG report, Labour's prevarication about how they somehow had to get more information etc. etc. damaged their credibility with a great many people.

    I don't know what they thought they would achieve with the delays. Perhaps they wanted to wait for better political timing, or maybe they saw welfare as a soft target for saving money?

    To add insult to injury, many people won't even get the entire $20 extra in July that Labour trumpets, because it puts them over the threshold for Temporary Additional Support. It would be an absolute no brainer to raise it by the amount of the increase, but no.

    Labour also has no public plans to implement the increase in Emergency Medical Benefit from $300 to $1000 that they promised at the election. Apparently, the rate has been the same for 20 years.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Old habits
    Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...
    Real ClimateBy rasmus
    3 days ago

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

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

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

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

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

  • Always Be Campaigning
    The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • STEPHEN FRANKS: Press seek to publicly shame doctor – we must push back
    The following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Competing on cruelty
    The right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Further funding for Pharmac (forgotten in the Budget?) looks like a $1bn appeal from a PM in need of...
    Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan  – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: The Vested interests shaping National Party policies
    As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • Labour may be on way out of power and NZ First back in – but will Peters go into coalition with Na...
    Voters  are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris  Hipkins’  valiant  rearguard  action.  So  where  are they  heading?  Clearly  not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that  the  outcome  will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a  few weeks  ago  was ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • GRAHAM ADAMS: Will the racists please stand up?
    Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out. Graham Adams writes –    With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influence
    As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Tuesday’s Chorus: RBNZ set to rain on National's victory parade
    ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • After a Pittsburgh coal processing plant closed, ER visits plummeted
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • September-23 AT Board Meeting
    Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Electorate Watch: West Coast-Tasman
    Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Big money brings Winston back
    National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • 20 days until Election Day, 7 until early voting begins… but what changes will we really see here?
    As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    4 days ago

  • A night out
    Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • A pallid shade of Green III
    Clearly Labour's focus groups are telling it that it needs to pay more attention to climate change - because hot on the heels of their weaksauce energy efficiency pilot programme and not-great-but-better-than-nothing solar grants, they've released a full climate manifesto. Unfortunately, the core policies in it - a second Emissions ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • A coalition of racism, cruelty, and chaos
    Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • More migrant workers should help generate the tax income needed to provide benefits for job seekers
    Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Letter To Luxon.
    Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbers
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.   Brian Easton writes –  Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • CRL Progress – Sep-23
    It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • Monday’s Chorus: Not building nearly enough
    We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Game on; Hipkins comes out punching
    Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • Tax Cut Austerity Blues.
    The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW:  It’s the economy – and the spirit – Stupid…
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 17, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 23, 2023. Story of the Week  Opinion: Let’s free ourselves from the story of economic growth A relentless focus on economic growth has ushered in ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • The End Of The World.
    Have you been looking out of your window for signs of the apocalypse? Don’t worry, you haven’t been door knocked by a representative of the Brian Tamaki party. They’re probably a bit busy this morning spruiking salvation, or getting ready to march on our parliament, which is closed. No, I’ve ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • Climate Town: The Brainwashing Of America's Children
    Climate Town is the YouTube channel of Rollie Williams and a ragtag team of climate communicators, creatives and comedians. They examine climate change in a way that doesn’t make you want to eat a cyanide pill. Get informed about the climate crisis before the weather does it for you. The latest ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Has There Been External Structural Change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was similar to the May Budget BEFU, ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago

  • Another Labour bully
    Back in June, we learned that Kiri Allan was a Parliamentary bully. And now there's another one: Labour MP Shanan Halbert: The Labour Party was alerted to concerns about [Halbert's] alleged behaviour a year ago but because staffers wanted to remain anonymous, no formal process was undertaken [...] The ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Ignoring our biggest problem
    Its that time in the election season where the status quo parties are busy accusing each other of having fiscal holes in a desperate effort to appear more "responsible" (but not, you understand, by promising to tax wealth or land to give the government the revenue it needs to do ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • JERRY COYNE: A good summary of the mess that is science education in New Zealand
    JERRY COYNE writes –  If you want to see what the government of New Zealand is up to with respect to science education, you can’t do better than listening to this video/slideshow by two exponents of the “we-need-two-knowledge-systems” view. I’ve gotten a lot of scary stuff from Kiwi ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Good news on the GDP front is accompanied by news of a $5m govt boost for Supercars (but what about ...
    Buzz from the Beehive First, we were treated to the news (from Finance Minister Grant Robertson) that the economy has turned a corner and New Zealand never was in recession.  This was triggered by statistics which showed the economy expanded 0.9 per cent in the June quarter, twice as much as ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • The Scafetta Saga
    It has taken 17 months to get a comment published pointing out the obvious errors in the Scafetta (2022) paper in GRL. Back in March 2022, Nicola Scafetta published a short paper in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) purporting to show through ‘advanced’ means that ‘all models with ECS > ...
    Real ClimateBy Gavin
    1 week ago

  • Friday's Chorus: Penny wise and pound foolish
    TL;DR: In the middle of a climate emergency and in a city prone to earthquakes, Victoria University of Wellington announced yesterday it would stop teaching geophysics, geographic information science and physical geography to save $22 million a year and repay debt. Climate change damage in Aotearoa this year is already ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: Calling the big dog’s bluff
      For nearly thirty years the pundits have been telling the minor parties that they must be good little puppies and let the big dogs decide. The parties with a plurality of the votes cast must be allowed to govern – even if that means ignoring the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • The electorate swing, Labour limbo and Luxon-Hipkins two-step
     Another poll, another 27 for Labour. It was July the last time one of the reputable TV company polls had Labour's poll percentage starting with a three, so the limbo question is now being asked: how low can you go?It seems such an unlikely question because this doesn't feel like the kind ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    1 week ago

  • A Womance, and a Nomance.
    After the trench warfare of Tuesday night, when the two major parties went head to head, last night was the turn of the minor parties. Hosts Newshub termed it “the Powerbrokers' Debate”.Based on the latest polls the four parties taking part - ACT, the Greens, New Zealand First, and Te ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

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

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

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

  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
    Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefit
    Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Immigration settings updates
    Judicial warrant process for out-of-hours compliance visits 2023/24 Recognised Seasonal Employer cap increased by 500 Additional roles for Construction and Infrastructure Sector Agreement More roles added to Green List Three-month extension for onshore Recovery Visa holders The Government has confirmed a number of updates to immigration settings as part of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Poroporoaki: Tā Patrick (Patu) Wahanga Hohepa
    Tangi ngunguru ana ngā tai ki te wahapū o Hokianga Whakapau Karakia. Tārehu ana ngā pae maunga ki Te Puna o te Ao Marama. Korihi tangi ana ngā manu, kua hinga he kauri nui ki te Wao Nui o Tāne. He Toa. He Pou. He Ahorangi. E papaki tū ana ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Renewable energy fund to support community resilience
    40 solar energy systems on community buildings in regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events Virtual capability-building hub to support community organisations get projects off the ground Boost for community-level renewable energy projects across the country At least 40 community buildings used to support the emergency response ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • COVID-19 funding returned to Government
    The lifting of COVID-19 isolation and mask mandates in August has resulted in a return of almost $50m in savings and recovered contingencies, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Following the revocation of mandates and isolation, specialised COVID-19 telehealth and alternative isolation accommodation are among the operational elements ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Appointment of District Court Judge
    Susie Houghton of Auckland has been appointed as a new District Court Judge, to serve on the Family Court, Attorney-General David Parker said today.  Judge Houghton has acted as a lawyer for child for more than 20 years. She has acted on matters relating to the Hague Convention, an international ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Government invests further in Central Hawke’s Bay resilience
    The Government has today confirmed $2.5 million to fund a replace and upgrade a stopbank to protect the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant. “As a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, the original stopbank protecting the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant was destroyed. The plant was operational within 6 weeks of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Govt boost for Hawke’s Bay cyclone waste clean-up
    Another $2.1 million to boost capacity to deal with waste left in Cyclone Gabrielle’s wake. Funds for Hastings District Council, Phoenix Contracting and Hog Fuel NZ to increase local waste-processing infrastructure. The Government is beefing up Hawke’s Bay’s Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up capacity with more support dealing with the massive amount ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Taupō Supercars revs up with Government support
    The future of Supercars events in New Zealand has been secured with new Government support. The Government is getting engines started through the Major Events Fund, a special fund to support high profile events in New Zealand that provide long-term economic, social and cultural benefits. “The Repco Supercars Championship is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • There is no recession in NZ, economy grows nearly 1 percent in June quarter
    The economy has turned a corner with confirmation today New Zealand never was in recession and stronger than expected growth in the June quarter, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. “The New Zealand economy is doing better than expected,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s continuing to grow, with the latest figures showing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Highest legal protection for New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs
    The Government has accepted the Environment Court’s recommendation to give special legal protection to New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs, Te Waikoropupū Springs (also known as Pupū Springs), Environment Minister David Parker announced today.   “Te Waikoropupū Springs, near Takaka in Golden Bay, have the second clearest water in New Zealand after ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • More support for victims of migrant exploitation
    Temporary package of funding for accommodation and essential living support for victims of migrant exploitation Exploited migrant workers able to apply for a further Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa (MEPV), giving people more time to find a job Free job search assistance to get people back into work Use of 90-day ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Strong export boost as NZ economy turns corner
    An export boost is supporting New Zealand’s economy to grow, adding to signs that the economy has turned a corner and is on a stronger footing as we rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle and lock in the benefits of multiple new trade deals, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “The economy is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Funding approved for flood resilience work in Te Karaka
    The Government has approved $15 million to raise about 200 homes at risk of future flooding. More than half of this is expected to be spent in the Tairāwhiti settlement of Te Karaka, lifting about 100 homes there. “Te Karaka was badly hit during Cyclone Gabrielle when the Waipāoa River ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Further business support for cyclone-affected regions
    The Government is helping businesses recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and attract more people back into their regions. “Cyclone Gabrielle has caused considerable damage across North Island regions with impacts continuing to be felt by businesses and communities,” Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Building on our earlier business support, this ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New maintenance facility at Burnham Military Camp underway
    Defence Minister Andrew Little has turned the first sod to start construction of a new Maintenance Support Facility (MSF) at Burnham Military Camp today. “This new state-of-art facility replaces Second World War-era buildings and will enable our Defence Force to better maintain and repair equipment,” Andrew Little said. “This Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Foreign Minister to attend United Nations General Assembly
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will represent New Zealand at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week, before visiting Washington DC for further Pacific focussed meetings. Nanaia Mahuta will be in New York from Wednesday 20 September, and will participate in UNGA leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Midwives’ pay equity offer reached
    Around 1,700 Te Whatu Ora employed midwives and maternity care assistants will soon vote on a proposed pay equity settlement agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO), Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “Addressing historical pay ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand provides support to Morocco
    Aotearoa New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “We are making a contribution of $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help meet humanitarian needs,” Nanaia Mahuta said. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests in West Coast’s roading resilience
    The Government is investing over $22 million across 18 projects to improve the resilience of roads in the West Coast that have been affected by recent extreme weather, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today.  A dedicated Transport Resilience Fund has been established for early preventative works to protect the state ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests in Greymouth’s future
    The Government has today confirmed a $2 million grant towards the regeneration of Greymouth’s CBD with construction of a new two-level commercial and public facility. “It will include a visitor facility centred around a new library. Additionally, it will include retail outlets on the ground floor, and both outdoor and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Nanaia Mahuta to attend PIF Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in Suva, Fiji alongside New Zealand’s regional counterparts. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply committed to working with our pacific whanau to strengthen our cooperation, and share ways to combat the challenges facing the Blue Pacific Continent,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • PREFU shows no recession, growing economy, more jobs and wages ahead of inflation
    Economy to grow 2.6 percent on average over forecast period Treasury not forecasting a recession Inflation to return to the 1-3 percent target band next year Wages set to grow 4.8 percent a year over forecast period Unemployment to peak below the long-term average Fiscal Rules met - Net debt ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

  • New cancer centre opens in Christchurch
    Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall proudly opened the Canterbury Cancer Centre in Christchurch today. The new facility is the first of its kind and was built with $6.5 million of funding from the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group scheme for shovel-ready projects allocated in 2020. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

  • Government invests in top of the south’s roading resilience
    $12 million to improve the resilience of roads in the Nelson, Marlborough and Tasman regions Hope Bypass earmarked in draft Government Policy Statement on land transport $127 million invested in the top of the south’s roads since flooding in 2021 and 2022 The Government is investing over $12 million to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

  • New Zealanders continue to support the revitalisation of te reo as we celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Mā...
    Ko tēnei te wiki e whakanui ana i tō tātou reo rangatira. Ko te wā tuku reo Māori, e whakanuia tahitia ai te reo ahakoa kei hea ake tēnā me tēnā o tātou, ka tū ā te Rātū te 14 o Mahuru, ā te 12 o ngā hāora i te ahiahi. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-09-29T16:20:54+00:00