Three strikes law is not the answer

Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, November 29th, 2022 - 25 comments
Categories: crime, law, law and "order", mark mitchell, national, same old national, uncategorized - Tags:

It is rather weird that the three strikes law is a, ahem, hot topic right now.

It is being held out to be a panacea to the current crime wave the right claim we are suffering from.

A high profile killing of an Auckland dairy worker has sparked considerable anger.

National and Mark Mitchell in particular have chosen to fuel that anger by demanding that the three strikes law be returned.  Even though initial indications are that the person who has been charged was extradited from Australia and may not actually be subject to the law if it was in force.

Mitchell has been reported as follows.  From Morning Report:

He said National wanted to see “proper consequences” for offenders and was “fully focused” on changing the law around discounts.

“The public of New Zealand don’t feel like there is consequences. They don’t feel safe in their houses, they don’t feel like the judicial is working in their favour at all and it’s very rare we here about victims at all these days.”

The law has a somewhat disturbed background.  Its primary proponent was someone who had been convicted of stealing a dead baby’s identity.

As I said previously the legislation was a sports slogan masquerading as a serious penal policy.  Its genesis was the US of A where an informed considered approach to criminal justice is subservient to good old boy tough on crime toting politicians.

It basically has a list of offences where first time up a defendant will be given a warning, second time up an offender serves the imposed sentence without parole and third time up unless it would be manifestly unjust an offender has to serve the maximum sentence for the offence.

It is hard to comprehend how it could have a positive effect on offence levels.  In fact the National Government was advised that the law change may result in more homicides.

It is not difficult to understand how this could work.  The ones at risk of being subject to three strikes tend to be poorly educated and either very drunk or out of their head on something or they have the type of personality that means they respond very poorly to certain circumstances or they suffer from a mental condition. They do not have law degrees or coldly measure the consequences of their behaviour if they act in a certain way.

They are almost inevitably impulsive. They will not perform a deep analysis of the likely consequences, instead they will think along the following lines, “S*&t I’m going down but if I get away I might not get caught”. It is then quite conceivable that they will kill someone to get away.

The law had come up with some batshit crazy results like the case where a prisoner was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for pinching a female prison guard’s bum.  Another person who suffered from long-standing and serious mental illness, who had been admitted at least 13 times to mental health facilities, and who suffered from schizophrenia and substance (drug and alcohol) abuse received the same sentence for an unwanted kiss on the cheek of a stranger.

This second case led the Supreme Court to decide that the sentence of seven years’ imprisonment went well beyond excessive punishment and would shock the conscience of properly informed New Zealanders, and was therefore so disproportionately severe as to breach the Bill of Rights. They also agreed that this right not to be subject to cruel or disproportionately severe punishment is not subject to the reasonable limits protection under the Act.

So suggestions of a return of the law is both an affront to the rule of law which National is meant to support and may actually increase the homicide rate.  And it will not be a panacea.

You need long term reform to achieve this.  Address poverty, improve housing standards, care for people’s health and give everyone a good education.

But these tough on crime slogans that by the looks of it do not actually apply to the offence in question do all of us a disservice.

25 comments on “Three strikes law is not the answer ”

  1. Barfly 1

    "extradited from Australia"

    deported?

    • Obtrectator 1.1

      For God's sake, is this silly error going to go on and on being committed? If you extradite someone, it's because you DO want them in your country – to face justice. We certainly DIDN'T want that Aussie reject here.

  2. Lioness 2

    "a prisoner was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for pinching a female prison guard’s bum."

    "received the same sentence for an unwanted kiss on the cheek of a stranger"

    Always great to see the left minimize physical and sexual assault against woman. Perhaps this is why so many of us no longer feel safe in Aoteroa NZ.

    • mickysavage 2.1

      This is not minimising the effects of physical and sexual assault. This is wondering why these instances should attract the exact same way as the most extreme examples of the offending.

      • Lioness 2.1.1

        You are minimizing it.

        The law is called the "3 Strike Law". So for either of these offenders to have been potentially facing the the maximum potential consequence of this law they must have committed similar crimes or severe crimes at least twice previously and potentially even more times if they did so before the law was first passed.

        You use the terms "kiss on the check" and "pinch on the bum" instead of what each of those acts were, "a sexual act committed against an unwilling woman".

        You try to defend it by saying "it was just a kiss", "just a pinch". Have you considered how those effected the victims? No you haven't you have simply taken the view that the crimes didnt reall matter and could have been worse so the poor criminal shouldn't have been punished to much.

        Your attitude is why Labour is known as crim-hugging and soft on crime.

        • mickysavage 2.1.1.1

          That is quite the pivot from complaining about lack of empathy for victims to saying Labour is crim hugging and soft on crime. Criminal activity comes in all degrees of severity. To say that all offending is equally bad no matter what the circumstances is not the actions of a well run criminal justice system. Heard about proportionality?

        • DS 2.1.1.2

          There are people in prison for rape who serve less than seven years in prison.

          Do you think a bottom pinch is worse than rape? Because that's what Three Strikes says.

    • DS 2.2

      It's called proportionality. Or in this case, disproportionality.

      Frankly, seven years for a kiss on a cheek is a greater affront to the conscience than the initial kiss on the cheek.

  3. alwyn 3

    On the summary piece you get about this story you finish by saying

    "And despite there being evidence that it would actually work."

    Are you seriously suggesting that we should not do something because it would work?

    [Clearly there is a missing “no”. Have now amended – MS]

  4. Mike the Lefty 4

    The best deterrent for crime is NOT harsher sentences, it is having a state-owned, professional, well-funded police force staffed by the right people.

    Before the Bow Street Runners in the late 18th century, the system was one of hue and cry and bounty hunters, plus harsh sentences including whipping, branding and hanging.

    Harsh sentences did not reduce crime then and they won't now.

    The best thing the Labour government could do would be to separate traffic and police as used to happen. More police stations that are actually open and not shut after office hours. Police on the beat, in the community, like it used to be. Nowadays the police force is reduced to little more than a swat squad for emergencies and traffic accidents.

    There will be less crime when potential offenders fear that they WILL be caught. At the moment they reckon the odds are in their favour, and harsher sentences are just a joke to them. No offender can be sentenced if they not first caught, and if our police force is not capable of doing the job then they won't be caught.

    It will take a shitload of money, but building more prisons will take a shitload of money too.

  5. DS 5

    Three Strikes is nonsensical, evil, and stupid. It does nothing to actually deter offenders – who now have a perverse incentive to perform the worst possible form of the crime in question, since the system is now incapable of distinguishing between levels of severity.

    (Hint: that bloke who got seven years for a bottom pinch? He'd have received exactly the same sentence if he'd performed the worst possible act of indecent assault upon the woman in question).

    The kicker is that it costs the state $100,000 a year to keep someone in prison. That's the state wasting $700,000 for a bottom pinch. Talk about wasteful spending…

    That said, the Supreme Court has been been getting rather aggressive in its political interference recently. I am not so worried about this example, since it actually pertains to the judiciary's bread and butter, but honestly: even when politicians are morons, the judges need to pull their heads in. Leave the politicians to the voters.

  6. tsmithfield 6

    Mickey,

    The peverse outcomes you described were counteracted by the fact that the judge could avoid the 3 Strikes sentencing requirement should the sentence be manifestly unjust.

    Whether the 3 Strikes law "works" depends on what is meant by "works". So far as the public is concerned, they probably think it "works" if recidivist offenders are kept off the streets for longer.

    Personally, I think the whole prison set up is counter-productive, whatever system is used.

    Firstly, I think prison should be a place where people come out better rather than worse. Secondly, I think there needs to be much more support in the community for prisoners when they return to the community.

    In order to come out better than they went in, I think prison should be seen as an intervention that enables people to have the factors in their lives that cause their behaviour to be rectified. That could mean treatment for drug addiction, fixing educatoinal defecits, teaching employable skills, anger management counselling etc.

    So far as sentence discounts for good behaviour are concerned while in prison, I would link that to making progress with respect to the factors mentioned above. So that early release is tied to reduced risk of offending.

    Then, in the community, there should be mentor programs, jobs they can immediately go to, accomodation etc.

    • lprent 6.1

      Once they get prisons to the point that people actually do come out better and are supported when out so they don't reoffend – then we can look at sentencing.

      Perhaps we could raise taxes to increase the sevices you describe to the point that they can work. I would suggest about a 10 fold increase to scanandavian levels as a starter. Because in NZ most of those services are pretty non-existant, ineffectual, or too over-worked to work.

      Probably why our reoffending rate is so damn high compared to states that don't follow Nationals persistent penny-pinching on support services.

      In the meantime National looks to me like they just like warehousing prisioners with dipshit 3 strikes sentencing. I guess that they can see a profit in it somewhere.

      I can’t. It is an uneconomic way to use my taxes to pay dividends to prison investors.

      I would prefer spending money on more police

      • tsmithfield 6.1.1

        In the meantime National looks to me like they just like warehousing prisioners with dipshit 3 strikes sentencing. I guess that they can see a profit in it somewhere.

        Iprent, that criticism is probably fair. On the other hand Labour seems really good at throwing money at problems without much in the way tangible results.

        What is probably needed in NZ is a grand coalition that lasts about 20 years so that politicians are able to implement effective policy that actually deals with the root causes of problems. At the moment politicians from both sides of the fence seem to come up with headline grabbing policies to placate their voters that don't really work in the long term.

        Maybe the adversarial style of politics will end in the future to allow such a possibility. I am not holding out too much hope though.

        • lprent 6.1.1.1

          On the other hand Labour seems really good at throwing money at problems without much in the way tangible results.

          The problem is that they don't. You have to really throw enough money and resources at any end of it to make it work and then sustain it for decades.

          It takes decades to get those types of systems working. Typically National spend all their time in opposition complaining about even trying to do it, then cut all of the programs as soon as they hit the government benches.

          Politically there is absolutely no political capital working on it because of the way that lazy right voters push it. They're not interested in fixing a social ill and making sure that it reduces. They just want a short-term fix to a long-term issue.

          NZ has about 10-11 thousand sworn police and less than 4000 odd support staff for a population that is close to 5 million people. In 1990 we had just over 5000 sworn officers for a population of 3.3 million. They are a key part of our emergency response systems.

          Despite which they still get overwhelmed when we have emergencies like the pandemic or Australia offloading their societal failures here (the 501s). We need to keep raising numbers to the point that they actually have time to deal with the low conviction rates.

          When you look at other countries our number of police per head of population is really low. And that is the case for all emergency services from everything from fire, civil defence, and our social support agencies.

          We effectively don't support dealing with people leaving prison or being 501 deported from Aussie.

          For instance I generally advise people who have to use WINS that they will have to fight to get their entitlements because the accumulated punitive idiocies that the National / Act / NZF and even Labour have piled on a basic economic function of society (employment and income transitions). They're there to handle recessions, economic structural changes, people having unexpected upsets in their life like the unexpected birth of a child, etc. They are only really funded for 'normal' operations with the kinds of government policies that they have to contend with.

          WINS seems to have an institutional preference to never tell anyone what they could do, instead always effectively pushing them towards getting evicted or not having food. Because that is what a succession of governments (mostly right ones) have told them to do. WINS attempts at job-finding, reskilling, and training are simply ridiculous.

          So you can imagine (for instance) what it is like for a 501 landing in NZ with a few bucks, not knowing anything about the system, being dumped on relatives that they don't know, and being unable to get enough money to live on. Basically if you read the 501 page from corrections you'll get the idea. Essentially shoved off the plane in a country that most have never lived in and given a few days accommodation and money. WINS will spend a lot of time getting them learning how to write a really basic CV, but not enough to find them money for their food and rent.

          This is also pretty much the same for people coming out of prison. The last thing that they want to do is to deal with prison on the outside with no real support – which outside of family (if they have any) is pretty much what they get.

          Bill English was pretty much the only politician from the right in NZ that I have ever seen looking at these kinds of issues. But he was budget constrained because conservative voters are more concerned about reducing taxes than reducing the costs of offending and re-offending to society. Instead that they just pile on useless expensive punitive laws and regulations on places like WINS that cause homelessness, offending and re-offending. Seldom spending anything at all on actual cost-saving prevention – like dealing fairly with people.

          Luxon is a just such a classic example of a right simple-minded political moron. Youth military camps FFS. Pretty clear that the lazy dimwit was never in the military and that he has absolutely no sense of either duty or perspective.

          Soldiers and the armed forces aren't there to act as fucking jailors. They train to produce soldiers capable of handling themselves in situations from combat through to extended civil emergencies. They are highly and expensively skilled at training the willing for the unexpected. I spent 7 odd years building training systems to allow soldiers (mostly offshore) better trained. The type of systems that our SAS use at their MOUT for instance, or the major exercises that the aussies hold for various nations in their training grounds.

          To even think about all that military training being wasted as jailers and training the sentenced is a expensive travesty. Plus I note that Luxon – the lazy arsehole hasn't managed to say more than a few platitudes about helping with kids released from that kind of program to reintegrate back into civilian society. I guess that as the worst type of lazy god-botherer, he just expects that to miraculously happen.

          Maybe the adversarial style of politics will end in the future to allow such a possibility. I am not holding out too much hope though.

          Until the right voters stop being simple-minded idiots concentrating on blaming others rather than caring about their society enough to concentrate on how to make it work, I can't see it changing.

          You don't have to look too far to see the political problems. I just read about the Act policy on RMA and transport. that pretty much came down to..

          If you have money and resources, ACT consider that you have a perfect right to stomp over all others by winning everything in court. Be an aggressive arsehole to your neighbours and push them into having defend themselves from your assertions of rights to be an complete arsehole. They'll run out of cash before you do – that is why arrogant arseholes should fund ACT.

          You'll note that there is absolutely no mention on how someone with few resources can defend themselves against their neighbours arbitrary actions in Act neighbourly. Yet they are expected to do so.

          It also doesn't say how you could find the kinds of scientific data collecting required to defend it for things like water pollution. I guess that again, being able to pay for tame 'experts' means that you win.

          I can't see any common ground with this kind of individualistic fuckwit with no sense of duty to our society.

          This is from the party that brought in the incredibly stupid and ineffective 3 strikes legislation as a fashion import from the prison industry in the US.

          • tsmithfield 6.1.1.1.1

            Hi Iprent,

            I would actually be happy to pay more taxes for what I see as critical areas for our society.

            For instance, internationally competitive wages for medical staff so we don't waste money training them up only for them to be attracted overseas by higher wages.

            Competitive salaries for teachers that attract the most gifted candidates to that role, rather than them being attracted to accountancy or something that pays better.

            Community interventions to address the endless cycle of crime, drug addiction, and welfare dependency in many of our communities.

            Once we have effectively dealt with those critical areas, then we can start to fund the nice-to-haves.

            But I am not happy to be paying more taxes when I see a lot of it being poured down the toilet on vanity projects such as the TVNZ RNZ merger, or light rail projects that are highly dubious in their completed cost and their benefit to the community. I would much rather the money spent on that be put into critical areas.

            I think all government spending needs to be put under that microscope so the fluffy stuff is pruned out, and the funds freed up put into areas that really make a difference to the long term well being of our community.

            I agree that the right can tend towards dog-wistle policies. But I also contend that the left is often ideologically driven towards spending that meets esoteric objectives rather than actually making a difference.

            That is one reason I think a grand coalition is needed. Just look at what will happen when the government likely changes next time. A lot of the stuff Labour has invested in believing it takes a long time to make a difference will likely be repealed and it will never get that chance. Whereas a long-term stable government would allow the time for positive changes to happen.

            • lprent 6.1.1.1.1.1

              If you are prepared to avoid dealing with a current problem and want to wait for an indeterminate time for one of those to have an effect on the same problem in 20-40 years – then be my guest.

              It is a worthy but in my view , a completely hypocritical and sanctimonious sentiment, albeit a mostly completely useless one based on evidence to date.

              Generally the bulk of everything you have listed goes to benefit the relatively affluent and elderly and has minimal long-term effects on the probability of crime or on re-offending after a session in prisons. That is because every time that these are tried, the benefits are diverted to affluent areas.

              The bulk of the value doesn't go to the schools that the poor go to. Not to the communities with high crime populations. Not to the areas with high unemployment. Not to health prevention programmes – but too providing health care for the voters over child-bearing age. The value invariably goes to the relatively well off communities with jobs, income, and relatively low creators or crime.

              All of these have been tried over many decades. None have been shown to have that much effect on the outcomes of kids becoming anti-social or criminal, or with dealing with the downstream effects of people being processed through our justice system. That is because of the benefit bias that shows for each of those programmes.

              Consequently we wind up shelling out money for those programmes while also continually paying the costs of crime through insurance premiums and the costs of justice and prisons.

              As MS said in the post, the only real correlations about actual crime reduction here and overseas have been with the changes in age demography (or having readily available relatively safe jobs).

              You'll note that I'm not talking about convictions or sentences. That only really seems to have a correlation with vigilante voters. The 3 strikes debacle being and obvious example. But also generally increases in sentences and mandatory minimum sentences. Those seem to have a strong correlation with increasing violent criminal acts.

              The costs of fixing at the bottom of the cliff are still there.

              The costs of reinforcing anti-social or criminal behaviour by putting people into criminal educational institutions like prisons are well known and still there. Their effect on the actual rates of re-offending has always been minimal, and in most cases on the young increases the probability of re-offence.

              Yet the only solution that fools seem to have is to either point to social programmes that don't have much effect on the outcomes. Or who want to make it worse by locking people up for longer to encourage them to become more likely to re-offend or to become more violent to avoid being caught.

              Idiotic

              What those same fools then do is to get upset about what is known to work. Keeping most people who commit crimes out of prison, providing real training and education inside prison, providing real support after sentencing or terms in prison, and generally making it easier for people to access benefits that prevent them wanting to go back to offending. All of which is way less costly and far more effective.

              The idea would be to reduce re-offending. After all if you can do that then you have massively reduced the life-time costs of habitual re-offending on society by offenders in their late teens, 20s and 30s – the demographics of offending show that most criminal offenders start early typically as passion or anger issue and don't really stop until middle age.

              After you do that – you can start to look at how to reduce youthful offending in the first place confident that the backstop for those you miss will keep the costs to society down.

  7. Thinker 7

    Oh yes, remember David Garrett, proponent of the 3 strikes law…

    Strike 1 steal babies' identity

    Strike 2 obtain fraudulent passports

    Strike 3 assault in Tonga.

    But the sad thing is I'd give my watch to David Garrett to mind any day rather than the Dancing Perkbuster…

  8. observer 8

    It is a clear example of the irrelevance of so many "solutions", and therefore, the lack of sincerity of the politicians who propose them.

    Deterrence works when offenders think. "I won't do that, because I have weighed up the risk and reward and it is not worth it".

    Anybody who commits aggravated robbery (max penalty: 14 years) for cigarettes, booze or petty cash is not thinking much at all. If you want to make a lot of money, there are easier and safer crimes (no, I won't tell you which ones!).

    Here's what happens if you commit aggravated robbery.

    https://figure.nz/chart/3ZERJLSWFUA7wKPN-DW8miEWIyrWKT0qk

  9. Tony Veitch 9

    In a nutshell, the trouble with our society is we’ve become too soft over-all. We’ve lost that toughness of our pioneers who burned the forests, broke in the land and displaced the natives.

    We need to get back to a more essential way of dealing with offenders – something along the lines of the Old Testament (Luxon’s go-to book of reference) or the Roman Empire.

    Make offenders part of our entertainment, by pitting them against each other in an auditorium like Eden Park – an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a fight to the death.

    This would solve two immediate problems – it would act as a deterrence to those thinking of offending, and permanently remove most of those who had offended, thereby saving the poor hard-working taxpayer ship-loads of money.

    We need much more self-reliance and resilience and more consequences for wrong-doing. Poverty and dysfunctional Ruth-endowed families are no excuse. Everyone should aim to be a successful CEO and own seven houses, otherwise, what use is society if not to pander to our greed?

    Toughen up NZers and become successful, like our role-models to our right!

    /s

    • RedLogix 9.1

      The role of the state is to administer punishment and justice, the role of the individual to be compassionate and forgiving.

      Not the other way around.

  10. UncookedSelachimorpha 10

    Not to excuse people currently committing terrible crimes, but the more effective longterm solution for crime is better opportunity, care and support right from birth (and before birth). A lot of problems are established long before people start school. Plus we need actual support for adults and young people with problems (e.g. counselling, housing, addiction treatment etc)

    Strangely, the people and parties that shout the loudest about getting 'tough on crime', are usually the same ones with policies that entrench poverty, inequality and disadvantage i.e. tax and service cuts, 'flexible' workplaces, 'user pays' (=poor can't use) etc.

  11. Adrian 11

    We hardly hear stories of any 501s who have been able to live here without being the first item on the 6o'clock news. A nieghbour has recently had a house built by an Auckland builder who employed several 501s, very hard workers, interesting lunch companions, didn"t try to sell me any drugs or sawn-off shotguns. One was sent back because after a speeding ticket they found a many years old punch-up charge and that was enough to be separated from an 18 month child and trying to start again with no family here. I think the builder is brave, compassionit and to be congratulated.

  12. georgecom 12

    National has just reached it's 3 strikes for tired old law and order policies, slogans and rhetoric

    Labour soft on crime, boot camps, 3 strikes law

    no new thinking, no new ideas. after 5 years in opposition nothing tangible or new to offer

    If they had anything new we would be seeing ideas about stemming the flow of 501 returnees. only party doing anything in that space is Labour

  13. Paul Campbell 13

    "3 strikes and you're out" is so culturally wrong, if we must have this nonsense surely it should be "6 balls and you're over"?

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    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    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
    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
  • 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
    5 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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
    5 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
    10 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
    12 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
    13 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
    6 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
    6 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
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  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
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