Top ten things we have learned already

Written By: - Date published: 7:49 am, May 6th, 2020 - 53 comments
Categories: australian politics, health, health and safety, poverty, workers' rights - Tags: ,

  1. We can do without fast food and coffee made by someone else, but not forever.
  2. What seems to be out of control can be brought under control. This provides a good level of comfort. Even at another extreme event and future policies start to fail, New Zealand can recover the situation.
  3. We’re wiser. Comparing our own recovery with others, there is more than one right way to achieve and maintain control. The most enduring form of globalisation out of this is that countries who learn from each other and increase their implicit trust in each other, and use that shared knowledge to suit their own circumstances, are coming out ahead.
  4. We trust. We trust our government to get us to do the right thing, and have been rewarded for that trust. Our social contract is more explicit and it is very strong. When asked for total obedience and self-control in the face of a national crisis, we deliver. Government is dependent on us, and we on them, and that realisation hasn’t freaked anyone out.
  5. We are going to move closer to Australia. We’ve been doing it for years and it’s not scary.
  6. We’ve seen a truth. We’ve caught a glimpse of life without commuting and pollution and offices and it’s like a balloon that expanded in our imagination, popped, and the shape is still there.
  7. We are throwing everything at housing and infrastructure to keep ourselves employed and internally strong, but we’re not making ourselves any wealthier or productive.
  8. The things in life that are actually frivolous and a bit of a waste of money are now really obvious – even if we return to them next year. If we never tell another soul, we know those things that have held us back.
  9. The patterns that were changing already – digital work and communication, dying mainstream media, property, regional trade blocs, teaching and learning, healthcare, regional and personal inequality – just accelerated massively under our feet.
  10. We’re strong. All that is solid has melted into air – except actually it hasn’t. The entire country is changing so fast – in parts damaging and in other parts for the long term good – but there is no panic to it. We’re accelerating in high country roads, without loss of traction.

53 comments on “Top ten things we have learned already ”

  1. Sanctuary 1

    I have learned New Zealanders by and large love appeals to collective discipline. Stadium of five million, team of five million, we can't get enough of that kind of thing.

    I was reading a British account which expressed surprise that our nation of "rugged individualists" had been so disciplined. But Austin Mitchell long ago described an earlier generation of New Zealanders as the Prussians of the South Pacific, and it seems that beneath the surface a lot of cultural behaviours can be remarkably persistent in any society.

    • Blazer 1.1

      'Prussians of the South Pacific'….or 'Mexicans with…cell phones'…you choose.

      • Sanctuary 1.1.1

        I guess one was coined by someone (Austin Mitchell) who actually had a deep fondness for our people while the other is simply a dismissive insult, so if you want to be insulted I guess that is your choice.

        • Blazer 1.1.1.1

          Well you just inspired me to go and watch the Paradise Revisited series by Austin Mitchell .

          Wonderful .yes

        • Brutus Iscariot 1.1.1.2

          Prussians were also viewed in Europe as regimented, narrowminded, militaristic, and petty.

      • KJT 1.1.2

        Prussia.

        One of the first States to introduce formal, social welfare.

        • greywarshark 1.1.2.1

          What a mixed up lot we humans are. Could we extract essence of rationality and spirituality of being and find a sweet spot where we can join those things, and keep the stink bugs of negativity and greed to such a low level that we could pick them off and deal with them personally, squash them like shield beetles?

  2. Tricledrown 2

    Our health systems have been run down for 30 years and we have the lowest number of ICU beds in the developed world.

  3. Dennis Frank 3

    3. We’re wiser. Some of us, perhaps. The day the average punter gets wiser pigs will sprout wings.

    4. We trust. We trust our government to get us to do the right thing I suspect `our' was intended to mean `this'? Some naively, some suspiciously, given the track record of betrayal in the past.

    5. We are going to move closer to Australia. Fortunately plate tectonics reversal is unheard of, and would be extremely slow even if it happened, so I think we can discount your threat.

    6. We’ve seen a truth. Hey, don't tell the postmodernists. They'd become catatonic & would have to go into therapy.

    8. The things in life that are actually frivolous and a bit of a waste of money are now really obvious Such as the Leader of the Opposition.

    10. We’re accelerating in high country roads, without loss of traction. Looking down from his cloud (beer in hand) Barry Crump will be proud.

    • I suspect `our' was intended to mean `this'?

      You bet. I trust Ardern, Robertson and Bloomfield. I would mos def not trust Bridges, Bennett and that accountant National appointed to Bloomfield's position.

      Hey, don't tell the postmodernists. They'd become catatonic & would have to go into therapy.

      Lol – it's funny because it's true…

    • Sanctuary 3.2

      10. We’re accelerating in high country roads, without loss of traction.

      We can see the red-gold cirrus, over snow-mountains shine. 🙂

      • Ad 3.2.1

        🙂

        Hat Tip to James

      • mac1 3.2.2

        Don't forget the next bit about surrendering your heart of anger on that upland road.

        I quoted that poem to the custodian of the Church of the Good Shepherd at Tekapo once as it seemed so apt looking up the lake to Aoraki/ Mt Cook. He had not heard it.

        Our nation has more to learn about that surrender. "On that upland road ride easy, stranger/ surrender to the sky your heart of anger". I hope we do in our post-covid country.

  4. roy cartland 4

    I can't tell if you're being facetious with the first point, but is it really the product itself we're desperate for? Maybe it's some – any! – feeling of normality and/or social contact that we crave after isolation.

    • Ad 4.1

      It's both the product and the contact.

    • Phil 4.2

      but is it really the product itself we're desperate for?

      I'm very fortunate to have a good quality coffee machine at home. My home workspace is open plan and the machine is visible in the background when i'm on a video call. Roughly once a day in L4 I had a colleague or client mention how desperate they were to have a 'real coffee'.

  5. RedLogix 5

    Love it. I can tick all of these boxes.

    One small data point from here in Brisbane. In some Bunnings stores turnover is up 40% … people not spending money on bars, cafes and commuting are spending it on their homes.

    Lots of people are not in a hurry to return to work. Or at least work on the same prior terms. The insane treadmill of the multi-income family with both parents compelled to work long hours is going to come under particular pressure.

    More people will demand to work from home more often. Instead of one day a week, two or three may become the norm. The expense and time cost of commuting is way too high for many.

    Local and regional will become the big priorities. As the resident globalist I'm looking at the silver lining here; the current system had run into it's limits and needed a reset.

    But we are not through this event yet, I believe it has many ramifications that are yet to play out. The high country road we are speeding along may well have some nasty washouts we're yet to discover.

    Oh and we need a better media to reflect these truths more faithfully back to us.

    • tc 5.1

      We most certainly need better media and a revitalised local production scene.

      Content is gold more so than ever, were good at it. C'mon faafoi grow a pair

    • AB 5.2

      "Lots of people are not in a hurry to return to work. Or at least work on the same prior terms. The insane treadmill of the multi-income family with both parents compelled to work long hours is going to come under particular pressure."

      I do hope this is true. I sense it, but wonder if it will fade too quickly once things get moving again. It's essential to driving bottom-up change, the sort of change that has the best chance of survival across election cycles.

      • Phil 5.2.1

        wonder if it will fade too quickly once things get moving again.

        My sense is that most office-based businesses are already accepting of a more distributed workforce and planning accordingly. Realistically, social distancing restrictions of some form or another are likely to be in place through all of 2020.

        That means commercial offices will only be able to run at 50%-ish capacity. Once the new-normal routines and processes associated with this style of work are settled and well understood across a workforce, it may be very hard to move the working culture back to being entirely office-based.

        Plus, if you're a CFO, the prospect of halving your office rental costs in 2021 must look incredibly attractive.

      • RedLogix 5.2.2

        Yes I had that in mind as I was writing the above; it could all too easily fade as we move back to 'normal'.

        Yet two things come to mind. One is the new normal may look quite different to what we expect. We could yet see some dramatic consequences fall out of the COVID19 destabilisation on a global scale. TBH I am expecting a permanent change in our oil supply security within 18 months for instance.

        Major food supply security issues could play well for us, or not.

        Events in China are exceedingly uncertain at present. I think the CCP is going to come under extreme domestic pressure, but how it reacts and the timing is totally unpredictable. At present it looks like they are playing the hyper-nationalism card to consolidate loyalty to the party, and this does not bode well for Taiwan or regional stability at all.

        Brexit has yet to play out the end game. Europe and the EU are not going to look the same in five years time. As the US pulls back from providing the defacto security power in the ME, the Iranians and the Saudi's are going to make their own hostile moves. Russia needs to consolidate it's geopolitical defense while it still has the capacity to do so.

        And the climate story will continue to unravel, grim para by para.

        So I'm not seeing a reversion to the old normal. What we should be telling ourselves, as a nation, is that we have discovered our real capacity for dealing with adversity as a nation, and we're going to be needing to exercise it even more of it in the coming decades. Maybe we could get as good at this national teamwork thing as the All Blacks have been for so long.

    • Ad 5.3

      It's a great moment for both Australia and New Zealand to recognise how much we need the rest of the world – our society is just an outworking of all the blocs and allegiances and networks that sustain us.

      And the world needs us a whole lot less than we need them.

      • RedLogix 5.3.1

        our society is just an outworking of all the blocs and allegiances and networks that sustain us.

        Indeed, imperfect as they are, we depend on them more than we like to think.

        Our big challenge is that the US defacto security guarantee we have taken quite for granted since the end of WW2 is now having the terms re-written. The Australians are far more conscious of the threat than we are. NZ is in for a bit of a rude awakening on this front quite soon.

        And any hope of appealing to multi-lateralism (Helen Clark's favourite word) is rapidly crumbling from under us.

        Right now if I were Winston I'd be working very hard to win the budget to employ some of the best minds and most experienced foreign policy workers I could lay my hands on, and set them to working their contacts and quietly setting up terms for a regional trade and security alliance conference late this year.

  6. Tricledrown 6

    Life is fragile the world's economies are fragile.

    Team play overcomes disasters the individual can't.

    NZers are team players mostly a very small percentage are selfish.

  7. Peter 7

    We didn't learn that people throw tantrums when they don't get their own way. We already knew that. We just got to see it in action.

  8. Ad 8

    And in the vein of truths revealed, here's the poem from Tom Foolery that everyone's talking about:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxbu74aZGh8

    • RedLogix 8.1

      Very, very good.

      The clever part is how it gets us to look forward, by imagining looking back.

  9. bill 9

    5 We are going to move closer to Australia. We’ve been doing it for years and it’s not scary.

    Might also be on the cusp of learning that, given a tanked and crazy USA, there's actually not anything too scary with regards China. (Might take a while to unravel the sinophobic propaganda we've consumed though)

    • Ad 9.1

      We've been fine with accelerated and overt Chinese influence in Auckland for 25 years now. It's got its good and bad sides.

    • RedLogix 9.2

      there's actually not anything too scary with regards China.

      Ask my Chinese friends on this.

      Look I do get it. For years I've seen you and some others basically trotting out the barely disguised pro-Marxist lines that are loudly, reflexively anti-US and quietly uncritical of anything the Russians and Chinese govts do.

      If only the world were so simple I'd probably agree with you. But essentially you're trapped in the ideological battles of the last century; ideas you absorbed in the 80's are still in the driving seat as you navigate using political maps long out of date.

      Here is my claim, unadorned and plain. Underlying all these events are two distinct processes. The age old world of empire and the great power game is ending; it started with WW1 and we are now seeing it enter a late and dangerous phase where both the two major powers left standing are drunk with hubris, both clinging to rotting ideological lamposts yelling mad provocations at each other.

      At the same time there is another force at work; inevitably, for fear of the consequences, a reset, refreshed global order will have to be constructed, one that expands our moral horizons and brings to a final end the rivalry of nations.

      • KJT 9.2.1

        Do you really believe that being critical of the USA, means that anybody supports the CCP?

        A lot of criticism of the USA, is disappointment at our "friends" being arseholes.

        The chief supporters of the CCP , in New Zealand appear to be NACT , supporters, following the money.

        Most of us are suspicious of both, Oligarchic empires. The USA and China. And Russia.

        • RedLogix 9.2.1.1

          By the standards of modern political mores, all great powers inevitably act like arseholes when they exercise their oversized influence. It's just comes with the job description.

          While I've outlined my ideal vision above, I'm also aware NZ has to live in the real world today. No point in dreaming of a beautiful tomorrow, if an ugly bus runs us over today.

          That pragmatically means we need to consider that while our friend does do arsehole things from time to time, there may well be bigger arseholes out there we need to guard against as well.

      • Unicus 9.2.2

        The classic photograph of United States Marines marching in ceremonial uniform up Queen Street from the Auckland docks in 1943 should be a constant reminder that when it really mattered our grubby friend was there for us .

        New Zealanders watched in utter dread the inexorable approach of a facist racist military cutting its way toward them through the pacific . Pausing at Rabul where it established a military base of one hundred thousand personnel

        Horii's army never made it to New Zealand because the American and Australian armed forces stopped it in its tracks .

        Bent broken and flawed they may be but the Americans were our saviours in that dark and menacing hour .

        Lest we forget .

        • Ad 9.2.2.1

          Aye.

          My grandfather was a cook in WW2 for the US and NZ brigades in Wellington

          • joe90 9.2.2.1.1

            As a 15 year old my dad was part of the family business man-powered to construct barracks and hospital wings in Paekākāriki.

            He always reckoned US veterans of the campaigns were brought here to recuperate and recover because had they gone home in the pitiful state they were in, the US public would never have allowed another troop ship to embark to the Pacific.

            Himself, my grandfather and uncle carried a profound debt of gratitude for the rest of their lives.

            • Ad 9.2.2.1.1.1

              Good story.
              For some reason you’re older than I expected. Or you’re an autumn leaf.

        • KJT 9.2.2.2

          Those troops fought, fascists.

          I don't think they would be impressed with their grandchildren, voting for them..

      • bill 9.2.3

        For years I've seen you and some others basically trotting out the barely disguised pro-Marxist lines that are loudly, reflexively anti-US and quietly uncritical of anything the Russians and Chinese govts do

        sigh – I'm neither reflexively "anti – US" nor a Marxist.

        Living in NZ, I'm subjected to propaganda that's invariably pro-Washington Consensus. And I evaluate it as best I can.

        Living in NZ, I am not subjected to Russia-centric state propaganda or China-centric propaganda – everything I get about China or Russia is filtered through that Washington Consensus lens before it reaches me.

        And although I've said before, I'll say it again (maybe this time you'll let it sink in?) I do not believe in the notion of having a small clique/cadre or caucus of people making decisions that affect other peoples' lives – and that applies whether the decision makers are voted in or not voted in. And I despair the existence of any and all bureaucracies.

        Geddit?

        • RedLogix 9.2.3.1

          I'm subjected to propaganda that's invariably pro-Washington Consensus.

          Well you are connected to the internet and can sup with any devil you choose these days.devil

          Ideally we'd all prefer a world which had moved past the perils and predations of the great power games.

          But pragmatically I'm pretty clear that of all the scenarios that could have realistically played out since WW2, the Washington Consensus was probably the least worst of them all. Anything to do with Stalin, Mao Zedong, or now Xi Xinping's CCP is comparatively much worse.

          By all means the USA is fair game for criticism, hell they manage to do that for themselves just fine without us chipping in, but let's not pretend everything American is the spawn of the devil.

          I'd suggest that from our remove, us kiwis tend not to appreciate just how intense the Cold War was for the USA. It consumed their foreign policy for the better part of four decades, and it's paranoid overhang is still with us. The nuclear threat was palpable and existential, and drove a wild over build of their military. It was also the driver of the many mistakes they made, over-reacting to events and interpreting events through the monochromatic lens of anti-communism. It was after all a war of sorts, and wars are never clean honourable affairs.

          But you know what, in the final analysis I am glad the USA fought it, and even more grateful they won.

          • bill 9.2.3.1.1

            Well you are connected to the internet and can sup with any devil you choose these days.

            Well no, not really. For a start, I only speak English. So even getting a handle on the Yellow Vests in France, or events in Spain is difficult. For the most part, I have to rely on reporting from others, and as you well know, google algorithms and youtube algorithms are anything but neutral – meaning that a small stable of barely paid, under resourced, and often censored but trusted sources have had to be sought out over time (them and their reporting doesn't tend to just 'pop up' in searches). And those sources have to have covered whatever it is I'm looking to dive into.

            Granted, unlike others, I've got the time to do that.

            But try bringing any information that isn't an integral part of the highly propagandised information tsunami to a forum like this and…well sadly it's apparent that most people believe what "legacy", corporate and mainstream media tell them and will rush to parrot received lines regardless of any evidence or lack thereof.

            Syria, OPCW, China, Russia, Venezuela…maybe slightly less so with Iran (but then, there's a slight disconnect in the "official" line between the EU and the US on that one).

            Of course, if you simply mean that people can find thoughtless stuff to bolster their own prejudice and bias, then sure, the internet's very much a "sup with any devil you like" kind of a place.

            btw – a lot of the sources I use are US sources 😉

  10. E. Campbell 10

    The lock-down period has also exposed the fallacy of 100% online learning as the future of teaching, learning and education. I remember Minister Parata telling us a few years ago that this was the future…everyone could learn at home and schools, pffft, who needs them with their expensive buildings and expensive unionized teachers creating and sustaining real-world relationships with learners…

    • Anne 10.1

      Oh yes, Minister Parata. Had forgotten about her. My abiding memory was the occasion she sat with a group of teachers around a table and read them a children's story. I wish I had been a fly on the wall. The looks on the teachers' faces would have been a glorious sight.

      What a silly woman she was.

  11. Obtrectator 11

    "5 We are going to move closer to Australia. We’ve been doing it for years and it’s not scary."

    Lately, Australia has greatly accelerated the movement of its less desirable elements over to here. And it bloody well IS scary.

    • Ad 11.1

      That's not a learning from the shutdown at all. It's been happening for well over a year now.

      Those 'less desirables' are 99.99% our people. You are right the growth in gangs that they have generated is truly scary.

    • patricia 11.2

      Yes, closer but…They can be bad sports. Australia has armed police, a variety of State laws, plus Federal laws, expensive Body Corporate costs, a propensity to give unflattering nick names, and Aussi -isms "barbie thongs and esky" to name a few, some awful gangs, snakes, two kinds of crocodile not to mention poisonous spiders!!

      Further, ross river and dengue fever carried by their "mossies" and don't forget the dust and the bloody flies.

      They possibly have a list about us lol

      • Adrian 11.2.1

        Calling us the Shakey Isles and sheepshaggers just about trumps all their nasties, Patricia.,

  12. AB 12

    11.) That an economy is inseparable from the people that inhabit it. To separate it out is to create a murderous abstraction

  13. Wensleydale 13

    12. Some people are so selfish and devoid of common sense they will put at risk entire communities… so they can go surfing. Or for a tiki tour. Or so they can get drunk with their bros at the gang pad.

    13. David Clark is only half aware of what's going on around him at any given moment.

    14. Simon Bridges’ favourite food in all the world is his own shoes.

    15. When things get really, really bad… at least you have 120 rolls of Purex 2-ply to console you.

  14. Adrian 14

    Good stuff Advantage, a point about Item 4, I don't know if it was so much about blind obeidience as much as the lucky fact that even at 4.7 million we "know " each other and by not behaving we may harm someone we know or someone they know, it's probably also a heightened sense of responsibility, and that great Kiwi attribute of helping someone who needs it. I also suspect that our collective intelligence is a fair bit above the average. Plenty of evidence from overseas on TV news each night is evidence of that.

    We need to congratulate ourselves a bit more too.

    • Ad 14.1

      Yes it's such a tightly networked little country – that might be the 'collective' in collective intelligence. It's helped no doubt.

      And yes congratulations is a part of kindness.

    • RedBaronCV 14.2

      I see it as "informed consent" rather than 'blind obedience" . We had a clear community plan to follow, it was put to us as fellow adults, we had seen what was happening overseas and saw this as our best chance. There are still businesses and individuals who are adhering to higher lockdown because they see that as their best option for a little longer.

      The statistics that we have indicated compliance rates up in the high 90%'s. We have only about 8000 cops so they would have been unable to enforce anything like 90% if this didn't have widespread buy in. Lets face it – even tanks in the street would struggle to enforce it without buy in.

      It helps that we have a welfare system to access and back up civil defence and other organisations to deal with those outside the mainstream systems.

      I'm sure there are a lot of countries who would have done just as well with our basics in place.

      That's what I think Bridge's just doesn't get. He's left representing the tiny group that I really would like to condemn. Second home owners who decamped to them under the dead of night. If they did this under darkness then they knew they were breaking the rules but they think they are too wealthy and privileged for the those rules to apply to them

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    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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    4 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
    6 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
    7 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
    12 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
    14 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
    15 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    6 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
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  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
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  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
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  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
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