The Tolley Challenge

Written By: - Date published: 8:10 am, September 18th, 2010 - 53 comments
Categories: education, national - Tags: , ,

On Tuesday Anne Tolley, Minister for wrecking primary education, dropped this little pearl:

Panel to advise on national standards

Education Minister Anne Tolley has announced she will establish a national standards sector advisory group. … Mrs Tolley told the Otago Daily Times yesterday that the move was in response to growing unrest among principals and teachers over implementing the standards.

“It’s in response to the conversations I’ve had with principals and teachers. They are getting on with implementing national standards, but there’s been this disquiet around it.

“It just seemed to me that there was a real desire from these people to be involved.”

Got that campers? After all these months of warnings and pleadings and threats of action Anne has worked it out! The penny has dropped! It just seems to Anne that principals and teachers (“these people”) want to “be involved” in the process of determining what happens in their schools.

Words fucking fail me. No – they really do. The only words I have to describe my reaction to this should not be printed in a respectable family blog like this one.

I propose The Tolley Challenge. Can anyone find a comment made by any other minister, ever, in the history of New Zealand, that is as stupid, as arrogant, as offensive, as out of touch, as brain-fartingly idiotic a statement of the bleeding obvious as this clanger from Tolley? Anything even close? If so, share with the group. But for myself, I reckon Tolley is in a class of her own…

53 comments on “The Tolley Challenge ”

  1. Blue Boy 1

    At least one teacher likes National Standards.!!!
    http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2010/09/the_bullying_principals.html

  2. ASA 2

    So the question has to be raised why such an incompetent remains in charge of a central government election policy? One answer is that she is a ‘stalking horse” to attract attention while other, much more concerning educational initiatives are being developed. Something isn’t right here. She is being hung out to dry by the cabinet heavyweights. What is coming? Vouchers for school funding? Selling school properties off to the private sector? Or something even worse?

    • ZeeBop 2.1

      National sat on its hands, waiting idle, always going negative on Labour. They might had had
      a few policies work through but essential the global economic game changer kicked most of
      their banal assumptions right out of the game. We have an inefficient, weak parliament, that
      requires oppositions to fear their own seats, as well as governments to fea their back benches.
      We need to double the size of the parliament. I was ddeply concerned when Labour started
      harping on about bi-elections being too expensive, I just hope they were just spinning to
      force key to jump early, or maybe even hold off, the next election. But really if you want
      better politicians, like better students, you need to pull from a large pool, like the
      private schools do. If however you are limited to a locality, a smaller pool of students,
      or politicians, you need to hold them to higher standards, expose them more to high
      standards. Principles should start a score card for politicians who use correct logic,
      reasoning, grammar, etc. Start rewarding the winners, the politicians who have the
      basics down. Poorly score politicians that hold onto their false passports for decades,
      and only when the Police come knocking start telling lie after lie, to get a lesser charge
      – alledgely.

      Have a standoff between principles of schools and teachers, two seperate lists of
      politicians who cut it and those that don’t. How hard then would it be for the PM
      to reshuffle and put a Tolley in the educational ministry? Very hard, if she was
      already down the list of poor acheivement – Nationally.

  3. ASA 3

    Following a tip I’ve received, I suspect the answer, as with a lot of things to do with our ‘independent’ (ha ha) government, is found overseas. My pick is that we will have a version of the ‘Swedish Free School” system imposed on us. I see the Tories in UK are also very interested in this model (“academies”), even though a quick google didn’t take long to turn up sites questioning the effectiveness of this model. However the right doesn’t follow logic when there’s a chance for their business mates to siphon more money from the tax payer. Is this a case of ‘watch this space?’

  4. ianmac 4

    It may be that Anne Tolley has a job to do in setting Education up for a major change. After all the schools are so resistent to changes (National Standards) that it needs something like Voucher per pupil, Bulk Funding, or indeed “Swedish Free School,” to give our poor little kids a fair go at being good economic investments.
    Why else would she be so obtuse over concerns which must be with the approval of Cabinet?
    Incidentally she does already have an Advisory panel but she largeky ignores their advice.

  5. Jum 5

    captcha: responsibility

    Who will be on panel b and will it resemble Paula’s panel of extreme right people haters.

  6. comedy 6

    “….should not be printed in a respectable family blog like this one.”

    Comedy gold

  7. OleOlebiscuitBarrell 7

    Can anyone find a comment made by any other minister, ever, in the history of New Zealand, that is as stupid, as arrogant, as offensive, as out of touch, as brain-fartingly idiotic a statement of the bleeding obvious as this clanger from Tolley?

    “We live in a strategically benign environment”.

    “We won, you lost. Eat that.”

    “the only thing of which Taito Philip Field is guilty is being helpful.”

    Or, for sheer unintelligibility, this from Dr. Cullen: “We know, and National members know from reading the front page of the newspaper, that I have not merely stolen their fox but eviscerated it, strangled it, and thrown it back into their back garden, and they do not know what to do about it at that particular point.”

  8. toad 8

    I agree you’ve got to go back a long way (so far I can’t find an internet link) r0b, but how about this one:

    Colin McLachlan, Muldoon’s Transport Minister and drinking buddy (who preceded Muldoon’s other Transport Minister and drinking buddy Keith Allen of “my attackers names were Jack Daniels, Jim Beam and Johnnie Walker” notoriety when Allen was discovered my a film crew pissed and passed out in the grounds of Parliament) acquired the nickname “Oars”.

    This resulted from an incident in which a rescue craft attempting to reach a plane crash in Manukau Harbour off Auckland airport was unable to be deployed due to an engine failure. McLachlan’s infamous reply when questioned about this: “But they had oars, didn’t they?

  9. Richard 9

    Warren Cooper, speaking as mayor of Queenstown (but while still a cabinet minister), in response to the issue of how much development is too much development in Queenstown:
    “We will leave it to the market will tell us when Queenstown has become spoilt” (WTF? Isn’t that your job as a council to plan so that Q’town didn’t become spoilt? What do you expect of a guy who pronounced the French president’s name as Jack Shrac.

  10. marsman 10

    John Key’s “teachers are out of touch with reality”.

  11. grumpy 11

    And thereby hangs the issue:

    “”….in the process of determining what happens in their schools.”

    The schools do NOT belong to the teachers and principals, they belong to the taxpayer AKA the voter, who have given National the mandate to introduce National Standards.

    • Zorr 11.1

      No they don’t grumpy.

      As a matter of fact the schools are not answerable to the government. They are answerable to their local communities. The central government funds them. There is a difference.

      • Swampy 11.1.1

        Schools are answerable to the government as they have to comply with many Ministry directives and policies, this is the condition of being State funded.

    • r0b 11.2

      the voter, who have given National the mandate to introduce National Standards.

      Arse they have. They gave National a mandate not to be Labour, to deliver tax cuts North of $50 pw, and to close the wage gap with Australia. One out of three ain’t good…

      • hamish gray 11.2.1

        Oh I didn’t realise you had your finger so thoroughly pressed on the pulse of the nation… you know, given they voted in a centre-right government and you’re so understanding of centre-right voters.

        National campaigned on this issue, among many others, and they won. In what universe is that not considered a mandate?

        And while schools are responsible to their local communities, that in no way dispels their responsibility to adhere to the government of the day, who democratically represents those communities. Arguing otherwise is just a means of justifying unelected teachers’ unions having sway over education policy.

        Australia has National standards – the public love it. They have easily accessible measures of their children’s progress (or otherwise) – the public love it. All intro’d under a Labor Government. But if the NZ Left think supporting teachers unions on this issue is going to win them the support of parents, well, good luck at the next election.

    • bbfloyd 11.3

      grumpy…im glad to hear that the term of apprenticeship for “half arsed pseudo intellectual” is relatively short and stress free. i was worried you were showing a stress reaction.

      you should use that name better. your namesake is a musical genius who produced all my work.

    • Draco T Bastard 11.4

      You’re an idiot. We fund the schools to do the best they can for our children and our country – not to do what an ignorant cretin like Tolley (Or the rst of NACT+MP) tells them to do.

  12. popeye 12

    Yes, grumpy…just like doctors in public health..taxpayer funded…guess you would have no issue if the Minister of Health mandated cheap and blunt scalpels…hospitals belong to the voter after all and bugger what the professionals think. Can you imagine where this country would be like if only had a democracy for one day every three years? Get real!

  13. Fabregas4 13

    On a more serious not – this new group is nothing more than a fob. What has happened is two things. Firstly the Principals Federation has asked Principals to contribute to a Nationals Standards fighting fund (to be used to educate the public about the Standards) and Tolley has finally worked out that Boards of Trustees in the great majority support their principals and oppose the Standards. She, if I may be so bold, is plainly nuts, delusional, and add any adjective that is a simile of the first two if she believes that she can bulldoze schools who communities know do there best with, from a world perspective, very average resources

    • r0b 13.1

      this new group is nothing more than a fob

      Had that smell about it. Last thing Tolley wants to hear is the actual truth or anything.

      Thanks for your input on these threads, and guest posts always welcome!

  14. Dan 14

    The NACT party education policy is very easy to understand: demonise the teacher associations. That fulfills two aspects of right wing ideology:
    1 get rid of unions because they get in the way of government savings, and because the associations work together to stop the crackpot right wing agendas from the US
    2 sets up conditions for a radical revamp of education: bulkfunding, vouchers, public/private partnerships, etc,etc

    All the press releases from the Minister emphasise the greedy teachers wanting 4%. She misses out all the clawbacks of conditions that the government wants. She misses the fact that police have scored about 7% over the same time period. She has misrepresented the fight against national standards once again to bag teachers for not knowing their place.

    I think Key and his mates know Tolley is totally out of her depth. It helps their cause to have teachers moaning because they would grab any opportunity to deregister or kneecap teacher influence in education. The tragedy is her incompetence will have such a negative effect long term on education in New Zealand.

  15. jcuknz 15

    Teachers do such a good job I cannot see why they get so het up about ‘national standards’ and voucher systems. Both seem excellent ideas. But then fortunately I am not controlled by a union and can think for myself.

    • ianmac 15.1

      The NZEI is not a Union.
      If you must have National Standards do it properly. Such a major shift in Education needs research and planning. NCEA took 5 years of planning in the 90s under Bill Englishes watch and even now 15 years later it still is being refined. National Standards were introduced this year with no planning and no research. A political stunt which must have an ulterior motive as Dan says. Agreed.

      • jcuknz 15.1.1

        I remember when I was vice chair of my ‘Union” branch and the chairman several times told me we were not a ‘union’. “A rose by any other name smells as sweet”

      • jcuknz 15.1.2

        Stop this stupid bickering and accept that the political masters have the authority and work with them to achieve the best result. I don’t believe your ‘no planning and no research’ comment .. that sounds like typical grumpy teacher mis-information. Sometimes ideas need to be forced over accepted dogma of self satisfied experts.

        • Maynard J 15.1.2.1

          I’m glad you have your political masters to think for you, as you cannot do so.

          I think it’s a pity the masters that think for you cannot very well think for themselves.

        • Draco T Bastard 15.1.2.2

          Wow. It’s not the teachers that are spreading mis-information but NACT. They do this because they happen to be psychopathic liars and authoritarians who happen to think that they’re right even when all the evidence (multiple international sources of it) proves that they’re wrong.

      • Swampy 15.1.3

        Totally wrong, the NZEI is a union. Quote from website
        “Employees must join the union if they want to be covered by the collective agreement on their site. NZEI Te Riu Roa also negotiates regional or local collective agreements for advisers/reading recovery tutors in universities, early childhood education teachers and support staff working in both not-for profit and commercial centres.”

        By law the only parties that can negotiate collective agreements are unions and employers.

    • Fabregas4 15.2

      Teachers, thankfully, think for more than themselves. Instead they think about the children, the parents, their schools, their community, and then they get on to themselves. This is one of the reasons that the teacher unions need to be so strong because quite frankly anyone negotiating pay and conditions with teachers starts off knowing that teachers, in the vast majority, look at things in this order.

      Another thing teachers think about is education and they are clever enough to go to the trouble of seeing what systems like vouchers and national standards have done to education in other places around the world. Have a go at this yourself and then post again.

      • jcuknz 15.2.1

        Have you read David’s [kiwiblog] debunk of the teachers claims which shows relative to GDP NZ teachers are the best paid in the world? If you are driven by lolly then go overseas and experience the drawbacks to not being in NZ. The grass is not greener over the fence … it just seems that way until you jump over the fence.

        • Dave 15.2.1.1

          You’re quoting DPF’s figures on this blog? I mean your up at 3:30am, you seem dedicated enough to get the real data and run the crunching yourself. How about doing that rather than giving us someone else’s mathematical gymnastics?

          Health & Education are two departments where we should be investing all we can to ensure the professionals are of the highest calibre and supported as best we can, this includes the minister acknowledging that there is no mandate to upset the entire establishment to score some brownie points from King John Key.

          • jcuknz 15.2.1.1.1

            I happen to be in a different time zone to you at the moment 🙂 6hrs.
            The medical professionals are of the highest quality I assure you. It is the quality of life that keeps and attracts them to NZ .. sad that some have to go overseas to pay off their student loans.

    • Dan 15.3

      jcuknz,
      If you saw the teacher associations as a political party for teachers, then you might relax a little more. The rules are little different to the National Party: voluntary membership, toe the party line even if you disagree. Membership has grown steadily over the years. There are tons of opportunity to debate or disagree. In no way are teachers told what to think; Head office is very responsive to disagreement within the ranks but individual members are very dependent on head office reading the political winds correctly.
      You need to do some research on the efficacy of voucher systems: they tend to favour the affluent. As far as national standards go, it is not that teachers don’t want national standards as they already have quite a few. It has always been the process of instituting NACT”S new standards that has been the cause of unhappiness.

  16. Jum 16

    Grumpy,
    said: “The schools … belong to the taxpayer AKA the voter, who have given National the mandate to introduce National Standards.”

    I’m sick of righties saying NActMU had a mandate to do anything other than have Key smile and wave. Voters decided to have a change of face, not even a change of philosophy; they did not know Key et al were frickin liars. There was no mandate for the policy changes in education, law and order, selling assets, destroying democratic councils and using the earthquake (god is on our side crap) as a mandate for taking over New Zealand that various rightwing mps have tried to hang on New Zealand voters. The fault when all these policy changes turn to custard will be squarely on the hump backs of those mps and the cringing, benedict arnolds of media, half of them now paid by Key, but pretending to be objective before the election.

    The only fault I can hang on voters is they were too trusting with NActMU and didn’t do their homework.

    • jcuknz 16.1

      Nine years and it was time for a change as those in power get too entrenched with their circles of influence … a sad but true fact of life in a small incestual country like NZ.

      • mcflock 16.1.1

        And two years have taught an awful lot of people that change for change’s sake can be a pretty bad idea if you don’t know what you’re changing to.

    • hamish gray 16.2

      Of course they have a mandate – they campaigned on the issue, they were elected to be government and they’re now trying to implement the very policies they said they would implement. How is that a.not a mandate and b. lying?

  17. Fabregas4 17

    The worrying thing is that people who criticise unions don’t realise that most of the rights afforded them in their workplace came about because of the collective strength that unions bring to workers. Breaks/sick leave/holidays/anti discrimination and equal opportunity and pay wouldn’t be here (at least to the level they are) without unions. Since the mental nineties and the Employment Contracts Act some of these provisions have been stripped away or reduced – not at all leading to a better standard of living, or a better country -except for the rich.

    • jcuknz 17.1

      I agree F4 that unions are an essential part of the economy but that doesn’t mean one should not criticise the crass and un-helpful comments and actions of elected officials and those who elect idiots to positions they are not willing to fill themselves. We seem free here to throw mud at politicians I don’t see that union officers shouldn’t also be targets, at least by those who have put the time in.

      • mcflock 17.1.1

        15.1.2

        Stop this stupid bickering and accept that the political masters have the authority and work with them to achieve the best result.

        dissonant much?

  18. Jum 18

    No Hamish Gray, they don’t have a mandate. No NZ voter voted for all of National’s policies, especially the ones they forgot to tell us about, like sacking a legally, democratically elected ECAN, removing democracy from New Zealand and placing it under the bulk of the despot Brownlee, signed off by Key and English, so that NActMU can sell off assets and we can do nothing to stop it.

    Already at least 5 NAct ministers have tried to tell us that their particular loony policy has a countrywide mandate. That is patently a lie.

    1. They don’t have a mandate for any of their loony policy.
    2. They lied to get into this position of total unmandated power and undemocratic action.

  19. Fabregas4 19

    jcuknz

    I am usually really polite here (and everywhere else) but your comments above are just so dumb that I can only conclude you are dick!

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    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
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  • EGU2024 – An intense week of joining sessions virtually
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  • Submission on “Fast Track Approvals Bill”
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  • The Case for a Universal Family Benefit
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  • On Lee’s watch, Economic Development seems to be stuck on scoring points from promoting sporting e...
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • New Zealand has never been closed for business
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    1 day ago
  • Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Melissa Lee and the media: ending the quest
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to April 19
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  • Nicola's Salad Days.
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  • Weekly Roundup 19-April-2024
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  • Jack Vowles: Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
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    2 days ago
  • Clearing up confusion (or trying to)
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    2 days ago
  • How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log iPhone Without Computer
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  • How to Factory Reset iPhone without Computer: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring your Device
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  • How to Call Someone on a Computer: A Guide to Voice and Video Communication in the Digital Age
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  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
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  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
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  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
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  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
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  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
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  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
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    3 days ago
  • Despair – construction consenting edition
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • PM’s South East Asia mission does the business
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago
  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.    “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
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