Tourism: Death and Revival

Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, July 19th, 2020 - 26 comments
Categories: economy, Globalisation, tourism, uncategorized - Tags:

New Zealand’s tourism economy has essentially collapsed, and it is part of a global tourism industry collapse that is so big that it may be permanently smaller. But does it have to be?

May overseas visitor arrivals in New Zealand dropped by 217,100 or 99% year-on-year to just over 2,000 people. That’s on a previous 99.4% drop in April.

This may be one of those globals shifts that is so big that our entire tax base will be altered to be lower for the foreseeable future.

The growth of tourism has provided sustainable jobs and massive growth to the global economy over the last two decades.

We have worked for multiple decades to build ourselves as a destination for global travellers, and it has worked. Until this year it directly contributed NZ$16.2 billion (5.8%) of our GDP.

We built an entire national mythos of film and storytelling on our tourism brand – and it was the most successful revival of our economy that we’ve ever had.

That came from our adaptation of a literary masterwork, the Lord of the Rings series from J.R.R. Tolkein.

Without that effort and that series, we would have a far smaller tourism industry over the last decade.

That effort permanently altered how the world sees us – for the better.

And on top of that we have a combination of attractions that we ought to be proud of and to invite the world to see.

As ATEED put it so eloquently, mother earth is breathing, and when we are ready, we will return.

So it’s time we took stock of what we – and the world – have lost with the flatlining of this entire global industry. And maybe just maybe the kind of people we have that can rebuild it.

In 2019 total expenditure was $40.9 billion, an increase of 4% on the previous year. It contributed 20.4% to New Zealand total exports of goods and services. The indirect value of industries supporting tourism added a further 4% of GDP.

It supported 188,000 full-time equivalent jobs or over 7% of our workforce.

Spending by international tourists accounted for 17.1% of our entire export earnings.

Our reputation was so strong that it was the one major industry growth in which our isolation from the world was actually a good thing. $34 billion was contributed to our economy every year as of 2017.

But now even a kick-start to reviving this part of our economy in 2021 is gone. APEC  – for which MBIE, MFAT, and ATEED were in preparation for the last 2 years right down to welding Auckland’s sewer manholes shut for security – is no longer. The America’s Cup is down to four boats. The Auckland Kapa Haka champs are gone, as are all the major international sporting competitions that were to happen next year. With the new Covid-19 breakouts in Australia, there is now no chance of an Australiasian bubble – it’s an Australian bungle.

Cold comfort, but it’s bad around the world. The OECD points to a 60% decline in international tourism in 2020, rising to 80% if recovery is delayed until December. Specific regions with tourism within them – such as Europe – are likely to recover first. New Zealand doesn’t have the luxury of a meaningful internal market to replace that, and never will other than for low-rent camping grounds and the elite who own baches.

Now, some may scoff at this massive industrial decline and essentially sigh relief at the death of 20% of everything we produce and a fifth of our exports. Others see the wholesale destruction as the destruction it is.

It’s too early to determine if this scale of economic loss can be actually replaced. It’s certainly a bigger shock to our country than Britain joining the European Common Market, or the collapse of wool prices in the 1966.

But as Lord of the Rings and 100% Pure New Zealand proved, the one thing we can clearly do is re-invent and even re-mythologise ourselves into confidence that the world will want to see us again. We know this because we’ve done it before.

You see that in the successful Australaisn pitch for the 2023 women’s world footbal cup:

Unusually for government policy, this 20% of our economy will not be revived with concrete and steel like infrastructure spending. Or producing more apples. It will be revived from the work of poets and novelists and film-makers.

It won’t always work:

Yet the legacy of our literary-tourism success is so, so powerful still. Just the first 5 minutes of Stephen Colbert coming here will give you the idea of how sustainable that global pulling power is.

So regaining that 20% of our national effort relies on us being the most powerful and creative storytellers, and translating that into the engine of cultural production that drives our tourism industry once more.

Poets, epic novelists, and grand film-makers, your moment in our national revival awaits.

26 comments on “Tourism: Death and Revival ”

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  1. R.P Mcmurphy 1
    19 July 2020 at 11:45 am

    what is so hot about the thundering hordes running around the world in an infantile quest for distraction that can never be satisfied. why dont these people stay home and learn how to do something. tourism is stinking up the world and filling the atmosphere with carbon particulates and other pollutants.

    • Alan 1.1
      19 July 2020 at 12:46 pm

      you sound like a fun type

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1
        19 July 2020 at 1:03 pm

        He's right and so you denigrate him?

        • Climaction 1.1.1.1
          19 July 2020 at 2:17 pm

          just because it isn't your tourism doesn't mean it has no value, or worse pollutes your won sanctimonious value.

          Shades of my father, love him but will never agree with 1960's fortress NZ

          • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1.1.1
            19 July 2020 at 2:28 pm

            Tourism is worse than having no value – its almost purely destructive. The GHG emissions and destruction of natural ecosystems all make it not worth the cost.

      • Gabby 1.1.2
        19 July 2020 at 1:11 pm

        Stinking up the world is much more fun.

  2. Shanreagh 2
    19 July 2020 at 12:12 pm

    The return of tourists along with the return of overseas students, low paid workers in the tourist industry, often from overseas and the reliance on overseas workers in our agriculture industry are the aspects of a BAU that 'scare' me to be frank.

    We undoubtedly have attractions. We have talented artists like film-makers.

    If we open up again for tourists, and we should on our terms, we need to chart a path that does not have a reliance on freedom campers in campervans that are not fit for purpose.

    Freedom campers in my area are renowned for camping in laybys, along beach front areas. They park there often for several days and the infrastructure there in the form of rubbish collection and toilet facilities is not big enough. This infrastructure is paid for by local authorities and predicated on no camping and day-time use. To enforce it daily/nightly requires local govt money again.

    Walking anywhere in some popular beach or bush areas has got to be an exercise in watching your feet rater than the birdlife etc. We even have tourists defaecating outside provided toilets that are fit for purpose/emptied frequently.

    Looking at the opportunities that a slowdown in tourism is bringing gives us a chance to model OUR future.
    I think our reliance on this low cost structure for tourist dollars and staffing in tourist areas needs a big rethink, ie rethink short term working permits especially where these are in tourist areas, rethink freedom camping, rethink those coming in without adequate means to get home so we do not have to put on mercy flights at NZ expense in the future should Covid-19 or any other catastrophe rear its head.

    We need to do some work on why NZ people have not been travelling in NZ. Some of these NZers will travel overseas so they are not mean spenders. The value for money is sometimes not there in NZ accom and attractions in comparison with some overseas countries/ attractions. The cost is a big thing. Even with all the price reductions that have been going on some of the prices for attractions are still expensive. Accommodation is another. A friend has said he resents having to pay high prices for accommodation in tourist areas that are in places that a higher standard than his own permanent accommodation. We seem to have ripped out a whole lot of accommodation that would be suitable/convenient for travelling NZers that is comfortable, clean and not over the top. I know that Govt agencies have been using some for short-term accom for homeless people.

    High end tourism or those who will not be reliant on low wage jobs or low cost forms of transport/accommodation should be encouraged.

    The wah, wah clamour of the tourist industry should be put to one side with an invitation for them to be part of the solution to NZ's tourism industry for the future. Govt should put some parameters/no go areas that are not on the table so the operators have to use their brains rather then just oiling up their cash registers.

  3. Grafton Gully 3
    19 July 2020 at 12:18 pm

    The video inks in your article show the promise of remote tourism. Particularly if the overseas consumer controls the camera by instructing a local person, drone or robot to "stop ! I want a closeup of the ice falling, mud boiling, hobbit hole, albatross regurgitating etc. etc. "

    https://visitfaroeislands.com/remote-tourism/

  4. Draco T Bastard 4
    19 July 2020 at 1:02 pm

    New Zealand’s tourism economy has essentially collapsed, and it is part of a global tourism industry collapse that is so big that it may be permanently smaller. But does it have to be?

    Yes, yes it does.

    The growth of tourism has provided sustainable jobs and massive growth to the global economy over the last two decades.

    No it didn't as proven by climate change.

    We have worked for multiple decades to build ourselves as a destination for global travellers, and it has worked.

    Yeah, yeah. We've been doing the cheap, easy non-developmental stuff like tourism and farming for decades because its, well, cheap and easy.

    Climate change and the ever increasing pollution of our waterways shows that we have to move on from the cheap and easy because its simply not sustainable.

    Without that effort and that series, we would have a far smaller tourism industry over the last decade.

    Not having it would have been better as then we wouldn't have the problems that came with it such as freedom campers shitting in car parks and elsewhere and polluting our land.

    So it’s time we took stock of what we – and the world – have lost with the flatlining of this entire global industry.

    Instead we should be looking at how much its dropped the emissions of greenhouse gases. I think that's far more important.

    Now, some may scoff at this massive industrial decline and essentially sigh relief at the death of 20% of everything we produce and a fifth of our exports.

    The problem being that we didn't look at the destruction that tourism was causing, at how looking only to the cheap and easy had our best and brightest leaving to the rest of the world for a challenge.

    But as Lord of the Rings and 100% Pure New Zealand proved, the one thing we can clearly do is re-invent and even re-mythologise ourselves into confidence that the world will want to see us again.

    And it really was a myth. It was, and still is, unsustainable.

    • Just Is 4.1
      19 July 2020 at 4:14 pm

      You're right Draco,

      "Yeah, yeah. We've been doing the cheap, easy non-developmental stuff like tourism and farming for decades because its, well, cheap and easy."

      Cheap and easy, the Famous history of NZs attitude to nearly everything, I like to think of it as short sighted.

      The Auckland Harbor bridge is a classic example, in little more than a decade after construction was completed, it needed a doubling of capacity due to increased traffic volumes, the only change since then was the introduction of the moving barrier.

      What that says it was lack vision, the same can said for Sir Dove Myer Robinsons vision of a rail line to the North Shore, everyone shot it down, no vision for anuthing beyond the end of their noses.

      If it's not "cheap and easy" it's probably not worth while…

      NZ could easily gear up industries around wood processing, adding enormous value and a bounty of jobs, but in NZ we'd rather make a quick dollar for shipping raw logs out of NZ.

      Short sighted

  5. Dennis Frank 5
    19 July 2020 at 1:21 pm

    Excellent spoof, Ad! Looks like you wrote it as if auditioning for a pr job in tourism – good strategy to get the right pitch for satire. There's also a place in Labour's recovery plan for your advocacy. They need to be able to sell business as usual as if it's still gonna work, eh? The positive alternative to facing reality.

    The growth of tourism has provided sustainable jobs and massive growth to the global economy over the last two decades.

    Such a shame that those jobs were sustainable for 20 years but have now vanished. How to pretend that the new reality hasn't really happened? Dunno. Consult whichever hotshot has been awarded the task in the ad agency Labour has hired to frame their campaign media. Such hotshots are always good at fakery. Ask Bob Harvey.

    A word of caution though. Best not to overdo it with the ganja. Those in the know can always tell… 🥴

  6. Stuart Munro 6
    19 July 2020 at 1:22 pm

    The collapse of tourism is no doubt greeted by the mass of people with as much concern as the industry demonstrated for ordinary folk while it was booming.

    Now, compelled to design for a longer term future, there is at last a slender chance of the gains beginning to outweigh the, mostly externalised, costs.

    There are many alternative industries we ought to be developing. Aquaculture is a sector in which we trail the world, and it is not that we lack the physical capacities, but the expertise and regulatory environment to foster a sustainable sector. I've been writing to MPs about it for decades, but they are too self-involved to care.

    Why single out tourism for support? All it does is crowd locals out of what were once our recreational spaces.

  7. ianmac 7
    19 July 2020 at 1:47 pm

    Wouldn't it be great if instead of tourism the same people who do the serving and driving and making the beds, were involved in producing carrots or wheels or fish-hooks and products that mean something. I would be prouder of the house I built instead of the work of being a polite escort to a tourist.

    • Molly 7.1
      20 July 2020 at 6:32 am

      I worked in hospitality for years when younger. The attitude of some customers indicated that they believed their payment brought them lord-of-manor status for the duration.

      Females or minorities in the industry will also have extra stories of harassment and conflict in the workplace.

      Talking in numbers about jobs without regard for the remuration or security of those jobs, and about the value of tourism's contribution to GDP without how evenly it was distributed or how the externalities impacted on local ratepayers, environment and local wages, disregards the reality. Not to mention, whether those jobs were provided to NZers or international travellers.

      Tourism as it was, was flawed and destructive. International tourists used fossil fuels to get here, and we disregard that cost also, to our shame.

      Figure out a value recovery, which may by necessity be only a partial one.

      Better still – an economic recovery plan that provides NZ tourism workers with employment in industries that are essential for our own wellbeing, environment and communities.

  8. Drowsy M. Kram 8
    19 July 2020 at 1:59 pm

    "A recent UNWTO report on overtourism in cities recognized the need for the sector to “ensure sustainable policies and practices that minimize adverse effects of tourism on the use of natural resources, infrastructure, mobility and congestion, as well as its socio-cultural impact.”"
    https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/global-tourism-sustainable/

    Maybe the on-going Covid-19 pandemic will precipitate a long overdue reset of the global economy, and put our civilisation on a path towards long-term sustainability. Maybe we can finally rid ourselves of the ludicrous conceit that growth is good.

    https://garryrogers.com/tag/limits-to-growth/
    https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/moving-away-progrowth/
    “The current economic system being utilized and internalized relies on perpetual growth. It has long operated counter to the reality that we are confined to a finite planet with finite resources. Yet, this system continues to be practiced and promoted globally. As the environmental and social repercussions of disbelief in limits become increasingly clear, so does our need for a new economic system —one that is not wedded to growth. Neither growth in the number of consumers nor growth in the amount consumed.” – Erika Gavenus

    https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-global-travel-as-we-know-it-an-opportunity-for-sustainable-tourism-133783

    "The COVID-19 pandemic has halted mobility globally on an unprecedented scale, causing the neoliberal market mechanisms of global tourism to be severely disrupted. In turn, this situation is leading to the decline of certain mainstream business formats and, simultaneously, the emergence of others. Based on a review of recent crisis recovery processes, the tourism sector is likely to rebound from this sudden market shock, primarily because of various forms of government interventions. Nevertheless, although policymakers seek to strengthen the resilience of post-pandemic tourism, their subsidies and other initiatives serve to maintain a fundamentally flawed market logic."
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14616688.2020.1763445

  9. Graeme 9
    19 July 2020 at 2:06 pm

    Looking around Queenstown over the last two weeks it's hard to see what all the fuss is about. Hospo businesses are very busy, if you're local forget about going out for dinner or a drink, queues everywhere. Only exception seems to be the few businesses that focused exclusively on backpacker or low end Chinese / Indian markets, they're fucked. The other hole in town is all the departed booking agents, that business model has fallen to bits too. If you want to drive across Frankton between 7am and 7pm, take a cut lunch. A domestic only winter school holiday meets a development economy that's going as hard as it can.

    How sustainable this is, only time will tell. Builders are saying they are back to having work ahead, and considerable pressure to get jobs completed, lots of sites working 7 days. This winter will be one week at a time as the school holiday crowd go home and market comes through.

    Longer term the industry will have to get back to putting New Zealanders first again. All the "products" and attractions we have were built on a domestic market, some going back to late 1800's (Milford Track and others). NZR and Tourist and Publicity Departments put a huge effort into building the basis of our tourism industry from the domestic market. That industry consolidated and expanded into the international market when widebody jets came along in the 70's. Progressively the industry has elbowed New Zealanders out of the best we have and replaced them international visitors, leaving New Zealanders feeling rather uncomfortable holidaying at home.

    While New Zealand has a significant inbound tourism industry, we are also significant outbound travellers. In of Jan 2020 we had a seasonally adjusted 322 870 inbound visitors and 265 570 outbound (it was 280 350 in Dec 19) Anecdotal in the industry is that the total value of the two sides is close to equal.

    A third side to the industry is New Zealanders travelling at home, this is around 1.5 – 2 x the size of inbound numbers and spend.

    The biggest company in New Zealand tourism is Auckland International Airport. They are in the driver's seat of the industry. Their profit driver is bums on seats with little differential between the front of the plane to the back, so to drive their profitability we get more bums and less reliability and service. If there's a candidate for re-nationalisation, it's AIA just to put some control over our inbound tourist mix.

    New Zealand Tourism's problem right now isn't the loss of inbound visitors, but rather the reluctance New Zealanders have to travel in their own country. This will change as they have god experiences and re-discover that we have some very cool things to do here, there's that incredible in-bound demand for a reason, and come back for more. That's a word of mouth thing and no amount of publicity and story telling can replace that. in the same way that negative impressions are all spread by word of mouth.

    • Just Is 9.1
      19 July 2020 at 4:23 pm

      Ah, yes, it would seem some Tourist operators prefer a foreign language as opposed to Kiwi.

  10. Adrian 10
    19 July 2020 at 2:21 pm

    The numbers atributed to tourism are confusing as they leap around depending on who is spruiking them, but the one thing not in doubt is that the tourism touts have cornered the market in paid bullshitters.

    The America's Cup is down to 4 boats not because of Covid as all the others had dropped out well before that as it is bloody expensive for an event held in the wrong time zone for TV.

    APEC is not tourism.

    The jobs were not sustainable, no jobs are but tourism even more so as war, economic depression and pandemics among others makes it precarious long term.
    A very large number of the 188,000 jobs in tourism are badly paid ones done by young offshore kids on holiday.
    Now, growing stuff, even wool, because people have to eat and clothe themselves, on the other hand….
    This is now a brilliant chance to develop our economy in an import replacement manner.

    • Draco T Bastard 10.1
      19 July 2020 at 5:33 pm

      Now, growing stuff, even wool, because people have to eat and clothe themselves, on the other hand….

      Is also unsustainable because the majority of nations can feed and clothe themselves from local resources and without the expensive transportation.

      And then we have to take into account the damage that too many farms are already doing to our nation.

      Time to get away from the cheap and easy and start developing our nation.

      • Adrian 10.1.1
        20 July 2020 at 9:07 am

        Wrong Draco, it has only been in the last 100 years of human existence that most have had enough to eat and that is down to being able to move it from where food will grow to where it can't due to seasonal weather etc. Pepys family lived on porridge 3 times a day in wintery England. Others were lucky to get that.

        Even today the cost of heating , mostly using oil, to produce food in northern Europe is massive in more ways than one.

        • Draco T Bastard 10.1.1.1
          20 July 2020 at 4:25 pm

          If they can't feed themselves from local resources then they're over populated.

          So, no, not wrong. The wrong is trying to maintain an unsustainable population through unsustainable farming.

  11. Shanreagh 11
    19 July 2020 at 2:54 pm

    If we do restart tourism as we had before (hopefully not) then one of the aspects to look at and break up is the vertically integrated nature of some of the tourist businesses in NZ. Businesses where 90% or more of the profits are chanelled overseas or where no tax is paid in NZ. Some of these businesses obtain visas for their businesses because they say they do not have qualified NZers. Surely with the NZers coming back there will be some qualified in these languages. Probably there were before and NZers may have been locked out because of poor wages.

    On a scale of what to do next I would prefer

    1) summit with no go areas ie

    no working visas for tourists (for the meantime)

    no freedom campers

    no vertical integration

    no un taxed profits going out of NZ

    all waged positions being offered to NZers as they will be living wages

    how can we make NZ attractive to NZers – value for money

    So the summit would work out what will work in a sustainable manner without reliance on high paying overseas tourists, or lowly paid overseas tourist workers so that NZers are encouraged to holiday here until it is safe to travel again.

    2) greater emphasis on agriculture, aquaculture and other clean, non extractive sustainable industries etc. Bringing these on line in the meantime while we have a big sort out of what our future tourism industry will look like.

    3) allowing international students back in with the student or education provider being responsible for the costs of quarantine

  12. AB 12
    19 July 2020 at 4:30 pm

    "Poets, epic novelists, and grand film-makers, your moment in our national revival awaits."

    Minor point: poets and novelists write from the inside out, not vice versa. If they consciously tried to do anything to spark a 'national revival', the result would be ephemeral trash. I know you know this and are simply having a bit of fun – but just saying.

  13. Hunter Thompson II 13
    20 July 2020 at 9:09 am

    ” … we have a combination of attractions that we ought to be proud of and to invite the world to see. ”

    Correction: We need to preserve our attractions from the rampaging hordes of overseas tourists who are just passing through and think they can trash the environment with impunity.

    The tourist industry players can talk all they like about sustainability, but it will always be a numbers game for them – bring 'em in, stack 'em up the walls, there's always room for more. And if the tourists make a mess (as they did at the Mermaid Pools in Northland) then the ratepayers can carry the cleanup costs.

    Then we have the "spreading" fallacy – should the queues get too long at one place, send them to another. Brilliant strategy! I'm sure that a young backpacker intent on bungee jumping at Queenstown will be content with reading a book on a park bench in Eketahuna.

  14. Sabine 14
    20 July 2020 at 9:57 am

    unless the great unwashed masses aka the proletariat has disposable income you can dream of tourism come back as much as you want too it won't.

    Travelling is expensive.

    Staying somewhere for a few weeks while maintaining a home base is costly.

    But then, maybe the tourism that is discussed is the one where only the very rich get to travel to their hearts contend in their own planes, landing on their own heli pads, staying in their own ranches err dairy farms, bringing in the food they eat, the booze they drink and the wretched souls – the precariat – tha gets to clean and cook for them.

    But that tourism is only costing you your land, one ranch errr dairy farm a time, to no benefit to the country and the people living in there. If you want to know such a place, i suggest you look at Monaco. Owned by people who don't pay taxes, serviced by the original population that now lives in Italy or France and only goes to Monaco to work.

  15. Foreign waka 15
    21 July 2020 at 7:45 am

    Looking at the environmental destruction and damage particular air travel does with all that tourism hype, its better to have less than more.

    Some see only the dollars but in the long run it will pan out like Tibet and the Himalayan mass climbers. Money is all and the devastation is left behind, moving on to another pristine area to wreck that too. I see the behaviour akin to locusts, equally devastating.

    I hope the selfies were worth it and that kind of landscape this will be your and your kids back yard one day. Until a person is confronted and "inconvenienced" in their own world nothing will change.

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    3 days ago

  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    3 days ago

  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;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:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago

  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago

  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago

  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    6 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    7 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 week ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 week ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    1 week ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
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