The wonder of e-bikes and e-scooters

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, January 6th, 2019 - 20 comments
Categories: auckland supercity, Economy, local government, Politics, public transport, Social issues, tech industry, transport, uncategorized - Tags: , , , , ,

Since I got back from scooter laden Singapore in mid-November, I’ve been looking at the Lime scooter experiment in Auckland. I have to say that it has been interesting seeing their use go deeply into the culture of the central Auckland area that I inhabit. Overall, and subject to some regulatory / legislative / tax considerations, it looks to me like e-scooters are here to stay.

Lime e-scooters’ Auckland trial extended until the end of March

Lime e-scooters will be on Auckland pavements for at least another three months.

Auckland Council plans to extend the e-scooter sharing service’s street trading licence, which was set to expire on January 14, until the end of March.

The extension would give the council and Auckland Transport (AT) more time to assess Lime’s trial and decide whether Lime and other similar services would be able to operate in the super city long term – and whether any more safety restrictions would be rolled out.

The trial of the e-scooters was granted in the expectation that other e-scooter companies would put in scooters as well, allowing for a comparative trial. That didn’t happen. Onzo and Wave who were expected to jump in as well did not, presumably so they could look at what to avoid.

I seldom use transport for “fun”, which appears to be the only criteria that out-of-touch economically dimwitted pundit parasites like Mike Hosking and Heather du Plessis-Allan ever seem to apply to transport. That plus their natural inherent stupidity probably why they always diss every mode of transport apart from apparently motorways and cars.

I mostly use transport to commute to and from work.

For the last 15 months when I have been in Auckland, I’ve been mostly using a e-bike to commute. I love using the bike, it just makes life so damn easy for me as I’ll explain later. It looks to me like e-scooters, especially rental ones, offer the same for most people at a much cheaper price.

Looking at the e-scooters they don’t look likely to to be able to help drag my aging and a bit overweight 120kg body and assorted computers up the 85 vertical metres over 3.3km route from work to home each day. In fact they look pretty damn pathetic on any sort of steep grade – as I pass Lime scooters being walked up my least favourite cardio-vascular slope.

But I’ve been talking around various people who have been using both their own e-scooters for a while and renting the Lime scooters since they became available. Plus I see them in use just about everywhere around central Auckland and the inner city suburbs. They are obviously a boon for commuters in those areas, and that is what I see most people using them for during the work day.

Renting e-scooters just gets rid of the tedious long walk. They then substitute some other issues, like finding a scooter when you need one. But essentially the rent on a e-scooter is way less expensive than almost any inner-city parking. Which is a huge plus.

But mostly e-scooters achieve what I have found to be one of the biggest benefits of e-bikes. They give a reliable commute speed that you can’t get in a car around the inner suburbs.

Consider my work-day commute these days. I travel 3.3km each way. The total rise between work and my apartment up on the K-Rd ridge is about 85 metres vertically. It takes me between 10-12 minutes to ride it depending on the lights on the roads and cycleways and at any time of the day or night. I often go to work early or work late depending what I’m working on. But it is absolutely reliable for the commute time.

Now I’ve been driving a car for since I was 15, and that was 44.5 years ago. So I’m a pretty competent driver. That same commute that I can cycle in 10-12 minutes is a complete crap-shoot by car. It takes between 8 and 45 minutes.

It mostly depends on the time of day. In the rush-hours it routinely takes between 15-20 minutes. If I drive to work first thing on sunday morning I can do it in 8 minutes. But if there is a rush hours blockage anywhere on the motorways that backfills the inner city roads, as seems to happen at least once a week, it can take 45 minutes.

That is because cars are a complete waste of road space. They seem to exist to jam up the roads. Like me on my car commute, almost all cars have a single occupant and are bulky. Even stopped at the lights they’d take up at least 21 square metres. That same fat footprint is also why I have to pay for parking when I take the car to work.

Whereas a person on a bike would take up something like 1-1.5 square metres and a scooter less than 1 square metre. In a crowded inner city that translates directly into more people for the same area, both on the road or cycleway and when parking. And I haven’t had to pay for cycle parking.

But the biggest turn off with a car is that it is just plain boring in a car stuck in traffic. I can’t read, txt, program, or do anything much except for listen to waffling morons like Mike Hosking and bad music. It is simply dead time for me done. To do it in my work day is purely done for the benefit of my employer. It is dead wasted time for me..

That explains why over the the last 44 years, since I got a license, I have seldom commuted using a car if I can help it. And when I totalled it up, it looks like this.

  • About 8 years walking to work and university where that was feasible.
  • About 10 years working from home and using the net daily to manage my teams, co-workers and employers.
  • About 4-5 years using public transport.
  • About 2 years using taxis where the cost of parking was higher than the taxi fares.
  • And in the last 15 months when in Auckland, I have used my e-bike.

In other words in aoo of my commuting time, I have commuted with a car less than half of the time. The only reason I have ever commuted with a car is a lack of viable alternatives. Which is a searing indictment of our crap public transport systems in Auckland.

For instance to get to my current work, the fastest public transport takes about 30-40 minutes. I either walk half of the distance with a large toe with problems and wait for bus, or I have to take bus that does almost 8km (rather than 3.3km) and often takes nearly an hour in rush hour. That is a pain because there used to be a good public transport from Ponsonby to over to the university. But it got trashed in one of the route restructures.

Now I’d admit that because of my rather diverse skill sets I have a fair bit of ’employee power’. I definitely use it to my advantage – it allows a selectivity of who I choose to be employed by.

Skilled tech workers for the last three decades have been steadily driving the high value and large jobs sector of the tech export economy. This is important to our economy. The high tech sector became the 3rd largest export industry in 2017. It is also one of the fastest growing export areas with the top 200 tech businesses exceeding $11.1 billion in revenue in the last year. It is a sector that, unlike the commodity industries, has been growing in profitability faster than it is growing in revenues. It also directly employs a hell of a lot of well paid people and indirectly pays for a lot of urban jobs. Like most tech workers, I strongly prefer not to have my time wasted in traffic or by having my skills being splattered by an idiot driver. Watching tech people moving jobs, there is a distinct trend to always move closer to their homes unless there is a hell of a job on offer.

I tend to look for firms that are near to where I live and/or where there are cycleways, walkways, or decent public transport routes that don’t involve jumping buses and long walks. I often eliminate possible employers if I have to drive to work and especially if it is on the motorway. They’d have to have some seriously interesting work before I even consider them.

Which is why public transport wasteland suburbs like Albany and Birkenhead are pretty much off my possible employers list. The indutries cluster for cars. Not for public transport that I can read on. There are no bus-lane to most of South or West Auckland and I so I won’t work there unless there is some seriously interesting work or they aren’t close to the cycleways. But I’ll work in Takapuna for a decent job – the Northern busway makes it palatable..

This is an ever increasing trend amongst the kinds of tech workers I work with. We’re really uninterested in the strange archaic transport views of economic parasites like the advertising selling flacks like Mike Hosking or Heather du Plessis-Allan. They’re just part of the inefficient and rather bloated boring crony capitalist local economy. We want to work – not to waste time in commutes. I can guarantee that we bring far more income, profit, and taxes into NZ and Auckland than unproductive opinionated hacks like media hacks who seem to be only interested in supporting old businesses who advertise with them and not exporters.

But what makes working here in Auckland to be viable (rather than offshore) for this overweight and aged programmer and many other technical geeks is the rapid spread of cycleways and separated bike lanes. Either that or better public transport. Then I don’t have to worry about the ever increasing dangerous stupidity of Auckland drivers and crowded roads. That brain and skill set that my employers pay so highly for is pretty safe on a fast cycleway or a bus. It doesn’t pushed into parked car by drivers overtaking too closely and parked fools opening driver side doors. And I can’t get ramming from behind from some distracted commuter talking to their passenger. Like happened to me in a parking lot called the Harbour bridge once.

I’m hardly alone. So what I see when I ride the new cycleways that have appeared in the last few years around central Auckland is a exponential increase in cyclists. Over the last 15 months, the Newton gully cycleway has gone from only having occasional riders on it to having many on it. I now pass or get pass other cyclists all of the time now.

On that cycleway most of the cyclists I see are e-cyclists. That is understandable. There is a bit of steep grade in Newton Gully and it’d be hard work on an unassisted bike. But when I visit people on the north-western cycleway, there are a lot of unassisted bikes.

Bit the other trend is that the e-cyclists are getting older and it isn’t hard to see why. I literally couldn’t ride the Newton Gully from work to home without a machine assist.

Plus it gives me my daily exercise…. And as much as I hesitate to admit it, riding on safe cycleways with a machine assist is also a hell of a lot of fun. Especially when you’re whizzing down Newton gully on a clear cycleway at 55km/hour on a crisp morning, wet or dry. Of course riding up that rise is a pain. But that puffing at the top gives the old heart and it’s stent a great workout.

With separated footpaths and cycleways plus high density batteries to assist the elderly tech heads like me can keep productively increasing our tech exports and paying people to make me decent coffee and turkish food.

But I’m really uninterested in my high taxes going to pay for the truck damage required for our local roads. Pay for cycleways once and expect them to ever need more than minimal maintenance. That is a cost effective and economic way to use my taxes. Whereas roads are a waste of time while car drivers are subsiding truck maintenance rather than fixing problems.

Of course there are a few things that should be more strongly regulated in our e-vehicle era, and a few strange vagaries of our existing legal structures that need fixing. I need to write another post… 

20 comments on “The wonder of e-bikes and e-scooters ”

  1. RedLogix 1

    Lithium Titanate. 10c charge and discharge… Available now.

  2. Kay 2

    There’s some mixed massages out there as to whether or not a valid drivers licence is required to ride e-scooters. Stuff says yes, Herald says no, dig into the LTSA website and no if they’re under 300 watts which the Lime scooters apparently are. The latter are the ultimate authority of course, but people banned from driving anything, or choose not to have a licence really need to this basic fact correctly publicised with everything else. E-bikes are fine unless they have something specifically motorised attached to them.

    I’m not sure about e-scooters in Wellington, there’s not enough room on our roads for buses and bikes to co-mingle very safely already and very few places the footpaths could be divided up for duel use. Do something with traffic free areas in the CBD and that might help. Personally, I haven’t encountered them yet, just heard the horror stories but were they to become more user friendly I’d be tempted in the city and in certain flat suburbs (ok, somewhat limited here but there’s places they could work like Eastern suburbs). It’s closer to the ground for me if I fell off one of those than a bike. I really miss cycling 🙁 I think they could also be of use for people who aren’t quite ready for a mobility scooter but finding it more difficult to walk everywhere and get off the bus routes so more time could be spent out and about and participating in society.

    I’m up in Auckland from time to time, I used to cycle around when I lived there 25 years ago, often down Ponsonby Rd, it was easy then. Plenty of space, felt quite safe, no near misses. I’m terrified as a car passenger going down there now- anywhere around Auckland for that matter- and wouldn’t even consider cycling anywhere. Auckland drivers are homicidal and that’s being nice to them. Separate areas from traffic are definitely needed for non-motorised vehicles. I’d cycle there (if I still could) with that in place, and scooter around.

    • Unicus 2.1

      Absolutely get limes off the footpaths – pedestrians have no defence against these silent bully machines

      If you want to ride one use the road way – and risk your chances with other transport machinery not threaten vulnerable human beings

      That goes for bikes and e- bikes as well – morally entitled idiots barging through pedestrians on two wheels is a menace and becoming more prevalent .

      In the US the footpath is sacrosanct running into a pedestrian is very very expensive for the perpetrator . It should be the same here – but of course that’s as likely as Simon bridges winning an election.

  3. Jenny - How to get there? 3

    My son who lives in the inner city not far from you, thinks the Lime Green Scooters are great. His biggest gripe is their expense, according to him, to get from Newton to the University by Uber, is cheaper than hiring a scooter over the same distance.

    His other gripe is that all the profit goes to a big overseas multinational. In his opinion the council should be supplying this service.

    • soddenleaf 3.1

      buy your own? or better, start a uni stu company that rents a batch of them, reward students for bring them back…. etc.

  4. veutoviper 4

    lprent – off topic but no Open Mike today?

  5. Jim 5

    Totally agree with your thesis
    ifify “expect them to never need more than minimal maintenance”

    I am a 62 yo refugee from Auckland. Shifted ~30 years ago to Raglan to escape the Auckland traffic, after enduring biking from Albany to Auckland Uni for 10+ years, many of which involved lobbying for ferry and Harbour Bridge access. (I biked the “upper harbour” route ~50km a trip.)

    PhD Physics and Maths 1990 involving a LOT of computer fiddling.

    Now work from home looking across the Raglan harbour with a >$100K income (still involves lots of computer work).

    An e-bike is in my future for the regular down-town grocery trip / weekly coffee club meeting 🙂

  6. Observer Tokoroa 6

    A great piece Lprent

    The fact of the matter is that the Car has become the Elephant.

    We really should be thinking of putting them in the Zoo.

  7. James 7

    I disagree- to a point. I also have the choice of where i work and where I live but I have a long commute and car is my only option for the days I go to the office.

    I think it’s a mind set – I listen to music or podcasts and make it a bit of “me” time.

    Living in a lifestyle area – public transport isn’t an option. Even if I did the bus from Albany – I then have to get to another part of Auckland- the time would be considerable.

    So I just accept it and enjoy my time in the car.

    When I’m the city – I use Uber for everything.

  8. WeTheBleeple 8

    I spent about a month in Auckland traffic and vowed to never have a 9-5 job here again.

    e-transport is great. But big corporations moving in to cash in before the locals even get a foot in the door… they can fuck right off. 30c a minute. $18 an hour for that battery toting chunk of alloy? Seems cheap on the surface. But an absolute rort is what it is.

    Bikes that could pay for themselves barely out of the wrapper, and then $$$$$$$ offshore forever. Yay, gee, so enthusiasm.

  9. Ad 9

    in case anyone needed further encouragement to start the new year differently, Aucklands Nelson Street is down to one lane and Quay Street is a nightmare for months.

    And real traffic hadnt even started for 2019.

    Great moment for Aucklanders to give up their car commute.

  10. Blessed are the cyclists, for they shall inherit the earth

  11. David Mac 11

    The business models struggle. Some people like to refer to the crazy money Uber are making The reality is: Uber lose about 12 million a day.

    “No venture has ever raised more capital, grown as fast, operated more globally, reached as lofty a valuation — or lost as much money as Uber.” Forbes.

    They turned a profit last year but this was due to selling off some sectors of the business.

    The margins are all so skinny, nobody is making money and they should be. They need to be. Being an Uber driver should be a handy little earner, not break down to an after overheads wage of $4.35 per hour. The Lime Chargers, collecting scooters through the night, recharging them and placing them before dawn should pay better than being behind the counter at Caltex. It doesn’t, by a long haul.

    Without any subsidies these inexpensive ways to get around the city come at a price. That price is somewhere someone is being paid Bangladesh sweatshop money. The ‘Contractor’ employee model is a soft target for exploitation. It is how it is possible to legally pay someone $4 an hour in New Zealand.

    A possible solution could be the rise of freelancers. Rather than Uber Inc. or Lime Inc. sitting at the top. The guy that collects and charges the scooters, could own them. 100 Auckland Uber Drivers could operate their own app, as we did with taxi Co-ops, the drivers own the business.

    There is one school of thought that feels that the Uber business is merely being shaped to be the Coca Cola of the future’s autonomous vehicle business.

    • Draco T Bastard 11.1

      A possible solution could be the rise of freelancers. Rather than Uber Inc. or Lime Inc. sitting at the top. The guy that collects and charges the scooters, could own them. 100 Auckland Uber Drivers could operate their own app, as we did with taxi Co-ops, the drivers own the business.

      These things really only work when its a government service. Government has the scale that the private sector doesn’t that allows them to provide the service cheaply or even free while still paying good wages.

      For taxis the government owns and runs the app and servers while the drivers own and run the cars.

      • David Mac 11.1.1

        Waiting for a government to make everything fabulous hasn’t worked out very well for me.

        Lime are headquartered in the US. With a shuffle up I think the Auckland electric scooter scene could provide a worthwhile profit to providers.

        I think Aucklanders would support a company that was owned by those that invested a few $k, own 10 scooters and commit to charging up to 10 of the Co-op’s scooters each night. With the neoliberal aspect gutted out of the overheads and the lion share of profit being returned to those that make it happen it stands a much better chance of being a viable opportunity for Kiwis than it currently does.

        • Draco T Bastard 11.1.1.1

          Waiting for a government to make everything fabulous hasn’t worked out very well for me.

          The past isn’t always a good gauge to the future. Particularly if we bothered to look at what went wrong and fix it rather than whinge about it, throw our hands up in the air and declaim that its all too hard.

          I think Aucklanders would support a company that was owned by those that invested a few $k, own 10 scooters and commit to charging up to 10 of the Co-op’s scooters each night.

          /facepalm

          It’s not about supporting a company – it’s about having a reliable service available. And if the company isn’t, as you say, paying enough then we don’t have a reliable service.

          With the neoliberal aspect gutted out of the overheads

          Your description of how it should work is pure neo-liberalism.

          • David Mac 11.1.1.1.1

            I think you systemically offer a contrary view to mine simply because you like to debate.

            The business model thumbnail of mine is almost verbatim Draco.

            A co-op whereby those that make it happen share the spoils. It’s a cornerstone of the Draco Manifesto bro.

            You’re just looking for a fight.

            ps: This ‘facepalm’ innuendo is beneath you. Say what you really mean. eg: “God you’re a stupid fuckwit Dave.”

  12. Sabine 12

    i am living proof that one can live without a car in NZ.

    One of the reasons i always lived central in AKL was my reasoning that what ever i paid more in rent would be easily offset by not having to own and maintain a car.

    Essentially i walked everywhere, and AKL is a good walking town once one gets to know the area, and every now and then use a bus or taxi.

    For everything else there is plane or train or overland bus.
    And it also helps with fitness, and a thing that i miss now that i don’t live in AKL anymore, picking up food for dinners on K-Road.

  13. NZJester 13

    Napier is having problems with its new cycleway with some cyclists still using the footpath and the road in places with one part starting to crumble just months after completion and is bumpy compared to the footpath and road making some users avoid it. A lot of it in other parts of the country was done cheaply and rushed under Nationals funding. I wonder how much of it is actually going to last the long run without needing more investment to fix a lot of it?

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=12185665

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    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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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 ...
    2 days 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 ...
    2 days 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    6 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours 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
    9 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
    11 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
    12 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
    1 day 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
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
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  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
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  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
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  • Progress continues apace on water storage
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  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
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  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
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