The Standard’s 2021 political awards

Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, December 28th, 2021 - 68 comments
Categories: act, greens, jacinda ardern, julie anne genter, labour, michael wood, national, same old national - Tags:

It is that time of year where nostalgia kicks in and the desire to review current events dims.  Where pundits try to sum up what has been a complete mess of a year in 1,000 words or less.

So much has happened this year.  It has truly been twelve months of the praiseworthy and the absolutely pitiful.

And it is time to reflect on the personalities who made us smile, made us frown and made us raise our eyebrows to breaking point.

The absolutely aceing that shot into your foot award goes to Judith Collins who in a remarkably short space of time and in a clear attempt to thwart a brewing leadership spill demoted Simon Bridges for something he had done years ago which had been dealt with by then leader Bill English and then watched helplessly as the National Party Caucus turned on her.

Talk about paying back double.

The winner of the never bring a knife to a gun fight award is comrade Chris Trotter who chose to attack Neale Jones for opposing Nimbyism and attempts to address the housing crisis by allowing intensification.  According to Comrade Chris it was better to protect old clapped out houses, rather than allow them to be bowled and replaced by multiple units.  And Neale was apparently in the control of property developers.

Neale’s response to Comrade Trotter was very funny.

The Daily Blog’s obsession with Neale is strange as shown by Bomber Bradbury’s praise of Bryce Edwards’ attack on Neale, one which Neale countered in these terms:

The world that Bryce describes, of quiet winks and nods and corrupt backroom deals to undermine the democratic will, simply doesn’t reflect the New Zealand reality.

We have a strong, independent public service, which takes most operational decisions including the awarding of contracts out of the hands of politicians.

We have regular proactive release of all Ministerial diaries and an Official Information Act which, while not perfect, allows for open disclosure of policy advice, briefings, records of meetings and communications for Ministers, their political advisers and the entire public service.

And we are lucky enough to have a Press Gallery based in Parliament who are not shy of using these tools to expose improper behaviour.

I suspect Neale’s business boomed after all of the attention.  As it should.  He is a rarity, a clear thinker presenting a progressive leftist view of politics and countering the utter negativity of the right with some skill.  Think back to the days when Josie Pagani was the media’s left wing commentator of choice if you want to realise how much things have improved.

The winner of the most use of the word “Woke” in a single blog post, as well as multiple blog posts award goes to Comrade Martyn Bradbury whose obsession with the word woke as well as the Greens suggests that professional help could be of assistance.

The walking and cycling the talk award goes to Julie Anne Genter whose commitment to sustainability is that great she has biked to hospital to give birth, twice.  For some strange reason she really annoys National MPs.  All I can say is that I wish there were more MPs with such a profound commitment to addressing climate change.

The I hope everyone has short memories award goes to rare misstep Simeon Brown who in the same week blamed Labour for Transmission Gully but claimed credit for National for the recently opened Eastern Busway.  The former is a PPP project signed up under and designed by National that has been a contractual cluster fuck.  The latter is a project that was unfunded under National’s ATAP plan and which needed regional fuel tax money to get it off the ground, a tax that National bitterly opposed.

The having a bob both ways award goes to the National Party Caucus for claiming that the Government’s MIQ settings were too strict, then too loose, then too strict, then too loose, then too strict …

The Micky Savage of the 21st Century award goes to the appropriately named Michael Wood.  He has got Auckland’s light rail project back on track.  He has overseen the introduction of Vaccine Mandates in workplaces.  He is at the forefront of efforts to introduce fair pay agreements.  If he achieves this then workers for many years in the future will benefit.

This performance in the House for me was one of the standouts.

The Opposition MP of the year award goes to Chris Bishop.

He has been relentlessly attacking the Government on Covid and whether we like it or not or whether the result is just it has softened up support for Labour.  He has created a huge sense of grumpiness in the electorate.  The old mantra that the left succeed with hope and the right succeed with fear has never been truer.  His effect is shown by the number of commentators who talk about Covid saliva testing.  The test is much less accurate and the results can be kept private so in terms of a public health handling of a response to a pandemic the proposal has little merit but talk about it we do.  And in the absence of a even moderate body count it has become a reason to attack the Government, even though on a comparison with the performance of all other western countries our response has been so good.

The New Phone Who Dis award for MP least recognised by the general public goes to the third to tenth ranked ACT MPs in Parliament.  Google their names and see if you recognise them or if you know anything about them.  They are being kept on a very tight leash and you have to wonder if this discipline will hold.

The look deep into the future award goes to the Green Party who consistently talk about climate change.  If you think that Covid is bad the environmental trends that the world is experiencing clearly indicate we are heading towards a disaster.  This is the last decade we have to do anything.  The Greens are consistent reminders of this.

And the winner of the coveted prize for Politician of the year is Jacinda Ardern.  While throughout the world Delta Covid brought advanced nations to their knees and while many countries are seeing their fourth or fifth Covid wave here in Aotearoa New Zealand she managed to vaccinate pretty well everyone she could and we have seen something extraordinary, the taming of Covid Delta.  Not that you would appreciate how good the response is if you read anything from local right wing media.

As said by Gordon Campbell in this must read post:

Arguably New Zealand has managed the best response to Covid in the entire world. This didn’t happen by accident. It reflects the skill and dedication of tens of thousands of people working at the borders, in MIQ facilities and in the public health system. Hundreds are alive and well today who would have not have been if the government had bowed to pressure from the business sector and its friends in the media, and thrown the borders open prematurely.

The country is currently seeing off the Delta incursion with minimal fatalities and a world beating vaccination rate.  With Omicron waiting around the corner I cannot think of any leader in the world I would prefer to have at this most challenging of times.

68 comments on “The Standard’s 2021 political awards ”

  1. Adrian Thornton 1

    "The old mantra that the left succeed with hope and the right succeed with fear has never been truer."…..what Left are you talking about there MS?…I can see no evidence of any Left wing political party operating in New Zealand today.

    New Zealand only has one political ideology represented by all main political parties..Free Market Laissez-faire Liberalism of one form or another…that is just a fact.

    The sooner you guys stop using the term Left to describe these ideologies the better for everyone, the planet included….what we need now more than ever is a Left wing party…and is sure as hell isn't Labour or Ardern.

    Greta Thunberg
    "It's funny that people believe Jacinda Ardern and people like that are climate leaders," That just tells you how little people know about the climate crisis."

    • Blazer 1.1

      Too true Adrian.

      As for hope and fear…the Natz offer 'hope'='a brighter future'-'we may be on the cusp of something special'(we weren't).

    • mickysavage 1.2

      I include even the US Democrats in this comment. It is about the left and right of the median in each population, not if a particular party’s policies are considered by the true believers of the left to be acceptable.

      • Dennis Frank 1.2.1

        You could be onto something with this. I mean hoping for the best seems part of human nature. Framing that onto the left could be artifice – but it also could point to something fundamental.

        Something deeper than identity, I mean. Using myself as example, I've never been able to identify with left or right. As soon as I tried those shoes on when shedding the extremely trendy apolitical stance of the boomers in the late 1960s, it was immediately obvious that neither fit. Yet hoping for the best out of politics & democracy is a stance I still share with mainstreamers. Perhaps the only one!

        The other part of the frame is equating the right with complacent acceptance of the status quo. Unfortunately for the frame, the bulk of left-wing voters do that too! So the frame is fundamentally inaccurate.

        Many such voters claim left-wing parties attempt to make progress, but those people rarely attempt a validation of the claim with evidence of consequent political performance & legislation. Measuring the claim against reality usually returns a verdict of partial success and a spectrum of opinion as to whether the glass is half-full, more or less.

        However your framing of the right points to fear as a default trigger. Valid insofar as fear of failure keeps Grant & Jacinda addicted to neoliberalism. Their default assumption that a resilient economy can be signalled as a distant goal suffices to put them on the right track while pushing attainment as far out into the future as they possibly can. Such pragmatism seems sensible to most centrists. It's not as if escalating crises threaten their faith in BAU. Yet.

    • Bill 1.3

      The sooner you guys stop using the term Left to describe…I'll just leave that hanging there, will I?

  2. vto 2

    The last one is gold in a wider sense…

    All those Jacinda-haters who would have had the borders wide open with covid tearing through our communities killing many many people are strangely silent when the facts are put to them…

    It is those buffoons who deserve a goon spoon… (they also go by the name 'National Party supporter')

  3. Byd0nz 3

    I wonder what sort of award should be given to the Authors of the just past US Defence Bill, $770 billion. Does the health care and housing needs of the nation come out of this defence budget, or should it be called the $770billion offensive bill.

  4. Anker 4
    • All good Mickey bar you comments on Boomer Bradbury. His writing on the woke is hilarious and it is important someone critiques the ideological group think that is going on.
    • Jilly Bee 4.1

      Sorry Anker, anyone who invokes the 'WOKE' word gets totally ignored by me – I loathe that word so much that I no longer read The Daily Blog.

      • Anne 4.1.1

        Touché Jilly Bee.

      • Anker 4.1.3
        • Fair enough Jilly Bee.

        but genuine question why do you loathe the word woke?

        • Macro 4.1.3.1

          What Drowzy says below. It's mostly used now as a slur. Its intended use by the Rightwing is to be offensive. For others here to continue use it also as an offensive slur against those who admit to the harm done to indigenous peoples by colonialists in the past, and who empathise with others who continue to experience depravation from dominant cultural practice is IMHO outrageous.

          • RedLogix 4.1.3.1.1

            It's also used by moderate left wingers who're fed up with this divisive, nonsensical vanity project that has hijacked the progressive movement in the past decade.

            • Macro 4.1.3.1.1.1

              One only has to visit Melbourne museum, or any other museum in Australia with a dedicated exhibition on the plight of the aboriginal peoples following the arrival of the British to Australia. The terrible atrocities perpitrated on innocent people which continued for decades, and to a lesser extent continues today, are the direct result of of colonial imperialism. If the "left" cannot admit to righting these wrongs, then it can take little pride in its boast of humanitarian principles.

              • RedLogix

                I have no quibble with what you are saying in of itself, but I do object to the selective and manipulative narratives the woke agenda propagates. Our history is always way more complex and nuanced than these ideological idiots pretend it is.

      • Drowsy M. Kram 4.1.4

        yes 'Woke' has become a right-wing pejorative for progressive 'virtue signalling' ‘snowflakes’.

        “The idea that being aware of social issues and aware of the injustices done to certain people, both historically and in the present, the idea that that gets labelled as woke and then is used as a pejorative, it just makes it so easy for people on the right, doesn’t it?” – Michael Sheen

        How long before ‘progressive’ also becomes a pejorative term, I wonder.

        It’s not uncommon for a word or phrase that has some limited purpose in some group to be elevated into something broader. “Woke” is such a word; one used to describe an awareness of the world that has now been embraced by the political right as an often sardonic descriptor. It doesn’t really mean anything specific in its current political iteration, being used mostly as a shorthand for people who, in the eyes of the user, are focused on race in a way that is deemed excessive or dangerous. It’s a pejorative, in short, a hand-wave about the left and its purported obsession with race.

        https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/01/emergence-woke-pejorative-masks-deeper-insecurity/

    • swordfish 4.2

      Absolutely.

    • roblogic 4.3

      woke identity politics is a luxury set of beliefs held by privileged wellington nobs and naive zoomers, and its demands for conformity and silencing of dissent are a wedge that parties like Act will gleefully exploit to split the left.

      wokeness is a neoliberal distraction from class consciousness, hence it is embraced by giant corporations and even the CIA. those promoting it with religious zeal are fostering divisiuon, not solidarity

      • Corey Humm 4.3.1

        This! Woke and identity politics is militant neoliberalism being pimped by people who want poor brown and poor white and poor straight and poor gay and poor male and poor females put in boxes hating each other instead of unifying.

        Woke is me, I, my identity. It can't be left wing which is we us ours.

        It's preached by corporations, the wealthy, media, academia and upper middle class to rich and their privileged kids who have no concept of class.

        Woke politics is consumerism too look at all the wokies praising Nike because an American athlete who kneels is sponsoring him and buying products from woke companies and boycotting unwoke companies. They'll preach about colonialism and slavery while head to toe in clothing made in sweat shops from wage slave labour.

        They'll attack anyone who talks about class as racist despite class being a unifier for poor people of every race sexuality and gender (they hate class because class politics makes them the oppressor)

        They'll mention statistics and poverty in brown people and seem to not understand that brown people are more likely to be working class so policies that make working class people better off will benefit poor brown people instead they try ngati trickle down policies to make a few more brown people middle class rather than making the living standards of poor brown people and indeed white people better.

        Instead of class and universalism we get wrap around funding.

        In a housing apocalypse we don't hear about how high rents are we hear how hard it is for upper middle class kids to own a house. We also hear nothing about the 200,000 empty houses in a country with only 1.9 million homes because to attack the house hoarders would be to attack people based on class.

        Woke politics turns off working class people of all races and sexualities, genders it'll be the death of the left. Working class people hear the things woke people say and think they are nuts.

        Social justice is important but without economic justice social justice is worthless and it's not socially just.

        Woke politics is militant individualist neoliberalism that uses all the words of revolution, progress to stop social progress.

        The woke are Contras.

        • RedLogix 4.3.1.1

          That last line got an actual snort into my coffee from me. First time ever! cheeky

        • Blazer 4.3.1.2

          Great post Corey…it is and has always been about …'class'-the ruling class and maintaining their …dominance.

  5. Gezza 5

    Judith Collins turned out to be my favourite politician of 2021.

    I can think of no other party leader since I became eligible to vote who so frequently, & consistently, did, & said, utterly the WRONG thing. She was a freaking disaster for National & undoubtedly the 2nd best thing Labour had going for them throughout her entire stint as LOTO.

    She surpassed even Simon Bridges, who, in his time as LOTO, would have even my National-voting acquaintenances rolling their eyes & shuddering at the thought of his ever becoming PM.

    Collins was always good for a laugh. She just had no absolutely idea how freaking ridiculous she was. 😎

  6. Dennis Frank 6

    How about the longevity in kiwi politics award for someone who has been fronting it in the media for half a century?

    When his mate Sir Bob "Harvey suggested it might be time for his friend to retire, Sir Tim had a simple answer: he has a tremendous aversion to quitting."

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/458640/sir-tim-shadbolt-s-year-in-review

    • Gezza 6.1

      You know the funniest thing about Tim Shadbolt for me was that when I was in 5th form at Fungi Dungi, our very young, progressive chaplain, turned up for religion class one day with a very young, handsome, Tim Shadbolt in tow. And handed over to him.

      Tim spoke about being an activist & student radical, challenging “the establishment” & about his recent book Bullshit & Jellybeans, which I think the Censor had originally considered banning because of its title.

      Right at the very end of his talk Tim spoke about how the politicians of the day didn’t know when their time was past. And he said if he ever got involved in politics he fully expected that one day some young person would tell him his time was up and to “Piss off Shadbolt. You’re out of touch. You don’t know what you’re talking about! And that, he said, would be when he knew it was time to go.

      Prophetic words. Except that he’s now part of The Establishment – and he absolutely refuses to go! 🙄 How I wish we had had recorded his talk & I could send him an audio or video file!

      It’s well time for Tim to retire – either gracefully or gracelessly.

      • Dennis Frank 6.1.1

        Nice story. I agree with your logic! However the old saying about old dogs & new tricks seems to apply. My first wife went & lived at his Huia commune in late '71 but I never wanted to meet him (he was extrovert & I was the classic introvert).

        His lifestyle is a cop-out. Those tours with Gary M were probably fun for all but I bet he never had the guts to tell audiences about his acid trips. If he had, I'd view him with respect. Funny how some folks just don't get it – that lifestyle experiences on the edge provide an endless reservoir of teachable moments.

        • Gezza 6.1.1.1

          I’d actually forgotten Sir Timothy Richard Shadbolt KNZM JP was knighted in the 2019 New Year Honours List as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM).

          Can’t get more Establishment than that❗️

          Wonder what student radical Tim Shadbolt would have said had one of us suggested that one day he’d grab a knighthood with both hands, if one was ever offered. Bet he would’ve said: “Bullshit!” 😀

      • weston 6.1.2

        Why do you give a fuck specifically gezza about whether TS retires ?

        • Gezza 6.1.2.1

          Because I think it’s sad that Sir Tim, from video clips I’ve seen where he has been totally lost as to where they’re up to & what’s going on in Council meetings, appears to be suffering from dementia & it makes things hard not only on him but also on his councillors for him to remain in office & waste so much time arguing about whether he’s up to the job. Even his friends can see that he’s not.

          My late father-in-law, who I was very fond of, suffered from dementia that I could see developing for 2 years before it was finally diagnosed. Sir Tim appears to be in the early stages, imo.

  7. Reality 7

    In comparison with many countries, NZ has done very well coping with Covid. So yes, thank you to our PM for her concern being first and foremost the health of people, and listening to the experts, ahead of National/Act being so strident about balance sheets and opening the borders.

    Omicron will no doubt get out in the community at some point, but people have been able to enjoy Christmas and a holiday break because of the earlier measures to control the virus spread.

    To Judith Collins – how could a supposedly intelligent person have made so many blunders. Dave Armstrong of Stuff should write a TV comic series or pantomime.

  8. Psycho Milt 8

    That video of Michael Wood is a cracker. Nice to see a Labour politician speaking like they represent the labour movement, it's become quite rare.

    • alwyn 8.1

      Michael has the main requirement of his trade thoroughly mastered.

      "The most important quality for success in this business is sincerity. As soon as you can fake that, you've got it made"

      Well he can do it.

    • Adrian Thornton 8.2

      Acting like "they represent the labour movement" it is all that matters….words are cheap.

    • Patricia Bremner 8.3

      Yes, have to wonder if Adrian watched it.

  9. Psycho Milt 9

    …I cannot think of any leader in the world I would prefer to have at this most challenging of times.

    Me neither. I was reading a Guardian article saying so far the UK's hospitalisation rate and deaths per day was remaining "very low" during the omicron wave, and I realised that their "very low" would equate to 580 people in hospital and 10 deaths in the NZ context. Most people have no idea of the scale of NZ's achievement in protecting us from this.

    I sure wouldn't want to be the one doing the decision-making and taking responsibility for the outcomes during this time, but Ardern is acing it. Makes a mockery of all those right-wingers back in 2017 blathering that she wouldn't have the inner strength to cope with the pressures of command – she's been facing more pressure than any leader outside of wartime would have to handle and has dealt with it magnificently.

    • mike 9.1

      Hear Hear

    • Jenny 2 9.2

      Hear hear 👏👏👏👏👏

      • weka 9.2.1

        I’ve changed your name to Jenny 2 because we already have a regular here called Jenny. Please pick another name, or use Jenny 2 from now on. Cheers.

    • Gezza 9.3

      Absolutely agree with that. And she even remains relentlessly positive about how NZers are managing Covid.

      Yes, there’ve been a few hiccups along the way, which the govt (e.g. herself, Hipkins, & sometimes Robertson) have generally refused to concede were or are problems – but pretty well all of the issues I can recall (with anything other than the limited MIQ places ongoing problem) were dealt with swiftly & satisfactorily.

      I don’t like claiming we are the best in the world – that always seems like an invitation for fate to punish us for our hubris – but we’re right up there with the best responses & that’s down to Ardern’s leadership.

    • Patricia Bremner 9.4

      Someone here asked if I knew her, when I was so positive about her new role as PM in 2017.

      I said yes I had been lucky enough to meet and talk with her and her direct obvious grasp of the task ahead was clear.
      She has been masterful, and I am more than happy with her performance.
      This pandemic did not come with instructions, and her collaborative approach with the Science and Health people has stood us in good stead.

      On every occasion she has come up trumps. We are fortunate indeed.

    • mary_a 9.5

      yesyes Spot on Psycho Milt (9)

    • weka 9.6

      very well said PM.

      I'd add that she (and others in government, both MPs and staff) haven't had a break from the crisis in nearly two years. While the rest of us have been relatively well protected most of the time, they've still had to be forward planning around covid with large amounts of uncertainty, sorting out economic and other covid related issues, and run the country at the same time. That's huge.

      Also think that NZ sometimes struggles to understand that covid has been handled well while housing, welfare and climate haven't been and that those aren't contradictory. Hoping that Ardern's announcement the other day to address climate change actually means something.

      • Psycho Milt 9.6.1

        True, it feels like it's been two years of stress for all of us due to Covid restrictions, but for most of that time we've hardly had any restrictions. Cabinet, public health officials etc have been copping the stress of being responsible for what happens the whole time.

    • mauī 9.7

      Sure, and we could make all state highways have a max speed limit of 50kph, with mandatory police checkpoints on them in order to stop the road toll. But after 2 years I'm sure most drivers would be fed up with it. And we could give ourselves a large pat on the back for keeping everyone safe just so long as we keep the measures in place for one more year…

      • weka 9.7.1

        UK annual road toll deaths associated with excess speed:

        • 1,200

        UK covid deaths 2020/21:

        • 148,003 (deaths within 28 days of positive test)
        • 171,801 (deaths with COVID-19 listed as one of the causes on death cert)

        Does this need explaining? I will anyway:

        • relative numbers of dead people. Road toll dropped somewhat due to lockdowns, but we're still talking about covid deaths on top of road deaths
        • impact on health system, leading to dead or disabled staff, burntout staff, staff with PTSD
        • NZ doesn't yet understand well what the impact on us would be if we let covid run free. But it is clear that it would involve thousands of more deaths, and many people left disabled, as well as the impact on the health system and flow on effects.

        The only way that the comparison between speed deaths and covid deaths makes sense is if we either don't believe the covid death numbers are real, or we think the covid death rate is an acceptable price to pay over two years for not having mostly moderate restrictions, and several periods of time of hard restrictions.

        • mauī 9.7.1.1

          My point wasn't to compare the two and assess which one is more deadly, but to look at the quite different approaches we're using to manage risks in society.

          We can't use the death stats you're using to justify much either, there are just too many questions around them. How much is 100% covid? How many who died had other major illnesses? How many with PCR pos test after death? etc

      • Psycho Milt 9.7.2

        Maybe you skimmed my post and didn't see the bit where 580 people in hospital and 10 deaths per day in NZ would be "very low" by UK Covid standards. If people speeding in cars was going to kill thousands of people a year, leave thousands more with long-term illness or permanent disability and overload our health system to destruction, you bet I'd expect the govt to take stronger action to prevent people speeding in cars. Take this seriously, you're not a child.

        • mauī 9.7.2.1

          Yeah 580, some with the covid cough, some going to hospital for something completely unrelated and getting flagged as diseased upon testing, and others catching it while in there. Who is symptomatic and who is not?

          Its a meaningless stat, but it could be meaningful if each case had symptoms confirmed by their GP before admission, and then backed up by a test. This is not the approach taken though.

          • McFlock 9.7.2.1.1

            The funnty thing about that (for want of a better word) "reasoning" is that it creates more questions that it answers.

            If all the hospital admissions and, by inference, all the covid-attributed deaths are massively overstated because they were admitted for and died of other things, what is doing all the killing?

            We know the death rates in 2020 and 2021 around the world were through the roof, with the exception of nations that mandated pretty extreme infectious disease control measures. We know that vaccinated individuals eg in NZ have a significantly lower risk to be admitted to hospital as a proportion of positive tests, compared to unvaccinated individuals. Hell, that's a measure of efficacy.

            So something notCovid seems to be killing millions of people around the globe over the last couple of years, seems to be controlled in countries that tried seriously to control covid, and seems to disproportionately target individuals who do not have covid vaccines. But it's absolutely not the coronavirus variant that was coincidentally discovered in 2019.

            So what is this notCovid killer?

  10. Reality 10

    Psycho Milt – fully endorse your words of wisdom. Our PM may have a slight physical build, and likes to smile and laugh and is down to earth, which some may think is a lack of strength and substance. How wrong they are.

  11. Stephen D 11

    Not disagreeing with any of that.
    Grant Robertson should be in the mix. His management of the economy has been masterful. The only downside being the unexpected consequences of wage subsidies etc driving the house price rise boom.

    • Patricia Bremner 11.1

      smileyyes

    • alwyn 11.2

      " unexpected consequences of wage subsidies etc"

      What do you find "unexpected" about it? The pouring of tens of billions of new money into the economy has to go somewhere and in New Zealand the only real option was the Housing Market.

      There was no question about it causing inflation, as it has done. The only question was the level of the inflation that would hit us. To say it was "unexpected" is ridiculous. Grant's major feat has been to take the economy to the edge of the cliff and shove it over the edge.

      • Craig H 11.2.1

        Unexpected in that neither Treasury nor the Reserve Bank predicted it. In hindsight, sure, but at the time, the predictions were very pessimistic.

      • Patricia Bremner 11.2.2

        Inflation is rife elsewhere.. and is more to do with the asset classes people and banks poured money into after the GFC, and covid money on top has caused inflation. Treasury said “a drop in “GDP” lol.
        Got that wrong didn’t they!! So a surprise.

        • alwyn 11.2.2.1

          "Treasury said “a drop in “GDP” lol".

          Perhaps you should look at what happened to GDP and you might not laugh quite as much as you seem to.

          New Zealand's quarterly GDP changes, where each quarter is being compared to the previous one, show that in the March 2020 quarter it dropped by 1.3%, in June 2020 it dropped by 10.3%, in December 2020 it dropped by 0.4% and in the September 2021 quarter it dropped by 3.7% . I would expect that in the December quarter it will drop again but it is a long time before the numbers will be produced.

          Now what was it you were laughing about? And what was it they "got wrong"?

          https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/gross-domestic-product-september-2021-quarter

      • Blazer 11.2.3

        alwyn,I say alwyn…what is/was the alternative…plan?(other than pouring in $$$)

    • Jester 11.3

      If the consequences were "unexpected" as you say, Grant should go back to university and do Economics 101.

    • Sacha 11.4

      It wasn't wage subsidies. More directly handed to banks than that.

  12. Stuart Munro 12

    A bit tough on the saliva testing – Korea's been using it quite happily since alpha. Where the wheels come off is letting private testing, especially bad faith or antivaxxer forms, use it to dispute or circumvent other protective measures.

  13. McFlock 13

    Juco, especially toawards the end, was absolutely fascinating. It was like she had her finger on the pulse of society, but managed to do the exact opposite thing every time. It really was a masterclass on how to fuck things up.

  14. weka 14

    The look deep into the future award goes to the Green Party who consistently talk about climate change. If you think that Covid is bad the environmental trends that the world is experiencing clearly indicate we are heading towards a disaster. This is the last decade we have to do anything. The Greens are consistent reminders of this.

    Yes. Don't think we have a decade though micky 🙁

  15. roblogic 15

    Neale Jones blocked me on twitter for daring to question his opinion on something or other, he is a deeply intolerant and self righteous person.

    I probably agree with him on housing and many things, but this is an example of why the left is going to self destruct.. because it tries to expel heretics, but the right just wants more recruits

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    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    34 mins ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    39 mins ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    1 hour ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    9 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
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