Trifold Politics and Boundaries

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, January 30th, 2021 - 34 comments
Categories: conservatives, democratic participation, liberalism, Politics, social democracy, uncategorized - Tags:

Over the past year I’ve outlined in the comments an alternative triplet political model to the standard left/right description that’s the usual default. It’s the default for a reason, it’s simple and most of the time it’s a ‘good enough’ approximation to reality, and nothing I’m going to suggest below is intended or expected to replace it. But as most people who study the politics game for any length of time should know this binary lacks nuance and explanatory power some of the time, and in my view it’s innate polarity encourages a certain mindless tribalism that hinders the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

There are four ways to manage conflicting interests, unity, persuasion, negotiation and coercion, the first three are predicated on dialog, the last not so much. Which is why ‘cancel culture’ or the silencing of voices we don’t like is so potentially dangerous – it tends to drive toward coercion.

The art of political persuasion and negotiation depends on being able to hear what your ‘opponent’ is saying. In order to hear people accurately, you need to understand what they value. Political loyalty is derived from moral orientation, a theme Jonathon Haidt has spoken on in some depth. Haidt places his model in a conventional American liberal/conservative framework, but I’d propose his ‘moral foundations theory’ could be enhanced by adding a third pole – the socialist. This would align nicely with his six moral themes:

Care/harm: This foundation is related to our long evolution as mammals with attachment systems and an ability to feel (and dislike) the pain of others. It underlies virtues of kindness, gentleness, and nurturance.

Fairness/cheating: This foundation is related to the evolutionary process of reciprocal altruism. It generates ideas of justice, rights, and autonomy.

Loyalty/betrayal: This foundation is related to our long history as tribal creatures able to form shifting coalitions. It underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group. It is active anytime people feel that it’s “one for all, and all for one.”

Authority/subversion: This foundation was shaped by our long primate history of hierarchical social interactions. It underlies virtues of leadership and followership, including deference to legitimate authority and respect for traditions.

Sanctity/degradation: This foundation was shaped by the psychology of disgust and contamination. It underlies religious notions of striving to live in an elevated, less carnal, more noble way. It underlies the widespread idea that the body is a temple which can be desecrated by immoral activities and contaminants (an idea not unique to religious traditions).

Liberty/oppression: This foundation is about the feelings of reactance and resentment people feel toward those who dominate them and restrict their liberty. Its intuitions are often in tension with those of the authority foundation. The hatred of bullies and dominators motivates people to come together, in solidarity, to oppose or take down the oppressor.

Now lets correlate these six moral motivations with the three political modes of this trifold model:

Socialist: Clearly the primary motivation here is Care, with secondary drivers in Fairness and Loyalty.

Conservative: Primary motive is Sanctity, secondary drivers are Authority and Loyalty

Liberal: Obviously the primary falls to Liberty, then Authority and Fairness as secondaries.

Now these are not intended as hermetic categories, people are in reality more fluid in how, when and why they will put different weightings on different motives. But it’s useful in that it can help us both identify what our political ‘opposites’ have in common with us, and what we don’t. And why we argue so much, when in reality we all have more fundamental interests in common than not.

In this trifold model, each political pole is contending not with one other opponent but two, yet we almost always we tend to conflate the two. For example socialists routinely place both liberals and conservatives into a lumpen category of the ‘right’, when from the perspective of their values and motives they’re not the same at all.

Also it may usefully inform us about where each is likely to go too far – due to a distorted overweighting of their primary motive. Conservatives become tyrants when driven by a sense of ‘purity’ engage in race supremacy and jingoist fascism. Liberals when their desire for ‘freedom’ becomes a repudiation of society and manifests as libertarianism and neo-liberal economic theories. And socialists are prone to stepping over the ‘caring’ line when they promote political theories intended to impose equality of outcomes – marxism and it’s modern derivatives in particular.

It’s a feature of human psychology that we’re highly sensitive to potential threats posed by others. For example this is the why reason most left leaning regulars here are highly motivated to condemn (and rightly so) theories of racial supremacy and neo-liberalism. We have a hyper-acute sense of when liberals and conservatives are behaving like arseholes. Yet keep in mind they have exactly the same sense about their own ‘opposites, and the socialist left in particular.

Put in a nutshell – the socialist left does not trust conservatives not to be tyrants and racists, and liberals not to dismantle collective government so as to benefit only the most powerful individuals behind our backs. And they in turn distrust the left because they sniff communism in our every proposal. From this perspective while we should recognise a broad zone of legitimacy across all three modes, at the extreme each goes out of bounds. Understanding where those boundaries are located and why they arise falls naturally out of this model.

The conservative bundle of moral drivers, sanctity/authority/loyalty can be wrapped in a single word – stability. Human society absolutely needs functions like food, water, energy, transport and security to function predictably day to day, and preserving them is a prime virtue. But when stability is used to justify exclusion of ‘others’ or the tyranny of stifling orthodoxy – it steps over a boundary.

The liberal bundle of liberty/fairness/authority condenses down to the notion of progress. The liberal instinct is attracted to evolving existing structures and harnessing creativity and discipline, to innovate and generate. But because the point of change always lies within the genius of the individual, the temptation to discount the disruptive impact of change or our essential collective social nature – steps them over another boundary.

The socialist bundle of caring/fairness/loyalty is wrapped into the notion of distribution, rooted in the powerful spiritual principle that all humans are of equal dignity and worth and must be included. Yet when this is extended to the the idea that personhood can be erased and equality of outcomes imposed, and this righteous goal justifies any amount of disruption – well the 20th century informs us what happens then.

Cancel culture wrestles with the reality that we know some ideas are dangerous and reprehensible. This trifold model gives some sense of where the boundaries of those ideas might be located – and more importantly why otherwise good motives when over-extended into singular, ideological magic bullets for all of our problems, become monsters.

None of the above is an argument for ‘radical centrism’. I’m of the view that while there must be at least a few people who’re genuinely equally balanced across the six moral foundations, the vast majority identify primarily as one of socialist, liberal or conservative. The idea of some large mass of people in the ‘centre’ is mostly a myth. The centre is perhaps better conceived as that political space which is the sum of those ideas and agendas that all sides will concede legitimacy to.

This makes the centre a space across which we can persuade and negotiate our differing interests. Cancel culture hacks and slices at the breadth of it’s legitimacy, rendering down political dialog to a shrill, hostile and coercive bullying.

A willingness to resort to coercion in order to achieve the zealot’s ‘righteous goal’ is another feature of stepping over the boundary. There is a tacit awareness exhibited by all extremists that their views will never be acceptable to most people, therefore at some level they would, at least in principle, have to resort to violence in order to impose their agenda.

Let’s loop back to the three primary moral foundations at work here; caring, freedom and purity. Each is a powerful social force that springs from deep wells within the soul of humanity – yet when reduced by materialist thinking to weapons, each becomes a source of great sorrow. Paradoxically it’s the moral values we’re most deeply attached to that have the power to lead us into hell.

34 comments on “Trifold Politics and Boundaries ”

  1. Forget now 1

    You seem to have reverse engineered Schweder's; Community/ Autonomy/ Divinity triad of moral concerns, upon which his former student Haidt elaborated their ‘moral foundations theory’. If you can find a copy, this book by Jensen; Moral Development in a Global World, may interest you:

    The central thesis is that humans are born with a shared moral heritage and that, as we develop from childhood into adulthood, we branch off in diverse directions shaped by culture – resulting in novelty and contention. An international group of eminent and cutting-edge scholars from anthropology, psychology, and linguistics addresses this timely topic and explores how gender, social class, and 'culture wars' between liberals and conservatives play into moral development across cultures…

    {From Index:}New Zealand, 121, 197 divinity in, 134–5 emerging adulthood in, 124 ethic of community in, 133

    https://www.cambridge.org/au/academic/subjects/psychology/cultural-psychology/moral-development-global-world-research-cultural-developmental-perspective

    The Aotearoan research is in; chapter 6, by; Guerra & Giner-Sorolla: Investigating the three ethics in emerging adulthood: a study in five countries; 117-140.

    • RedLogix 1.1

      Cool. I'll look into that. I had in mind that the ideas in the OP were unlikely to be wholly original.

      Also it links to another book written by the late Terrence Watts, Warriors, Settlers and Nomads. I corresponded with him a few times about 15 yrs ago and it’s likely to have influenced my thinking here.

  2. gsays 2

    Cheers RL, I am headed to a beach campground with a couple of antagonistic types (not counting myself). I will test this out.

    [Removed spurious word from user name again]

  3. Robert Guyton 3

    I found that piece very interesting, RedLogix and I concur with your proposals. She's a complex wee beastie, is society! I question whether, using our powers of thought, we humans will ever smooth-out the bumps in our political thinking; I suspect we'll have to take advice from some non-human agency 🙂

  4. DukeEll 4

    Thanks RL. Your comments always carry a good degree of thoughtful pragmatism and cooperation, without sanctimony. This is a great contribution the debate about how society should envisage the individual and the collective

    • weka 4.1

      edited your email address to the same spelling as last time. You’ll need to remember exact spelling of username and email address if you want your comments to not get caught in the spam filter.

  5. Tiger Mountain 5

    Hard to go past a good waffle–tart fruit compote or sugary syrup–adds to the comestible fun. But really, how does the “trifold model” advance the need to organise communities, and pressure the timid Labour Caucus even one millimetre?

    • RedLogix 5.1

      advance the need to organise communities, and pressure the timid Labour Caucus even one millimetre?

      I'm very aware of the point you're making, the OP is little more than a hypothesis, with no research to validate it. It will only have value if it can help achieve outcomes.

      Anyone who has tried to do any community work will know that you quickly encounter people who for one reason or another, resist, derail or disagree with you. In order to get anything done you have to negotiate with them. And this means understanding what's important to them, and more importantly the underlying moral drivers of why they don't trust you just yet.

      If you have any ambition to be an effective leader of in any context, having the tools to understand why people often behave in ways you find baffling or infuriating is a huge head start.

      The Labour Caucus is not timid just because they're all bad people. They act 'timid' because they work in a democratic system which requires they must gain consensus and momentum across the spectrum to achieve anything of lasting value. If activists were to more often consider how to best frame what they want in terms of constructive negotiation "I'll give a bit of what's important to you, if you'll do the same for me" – rather than just 'defeating the right" – we might see more good outcomes.

      In short I want to see the socialist left do effective politics. Just yelling abuse at each other is the definition of failed politics.

      • Tiger Mountain 5.1.1

        I am not being contrarian for the sake of it, just imo more ways of describing the situation the working class of this country are in, is not necessarily going to change anything. As a unionist with a class left world view, understanding others positions and thinking is important and part of the territory. Where is the point of unity–or not?

        Politics for some of us is indeed “goal oriented” rather than an academic exercise.

        Put it this way, Ihumātao was progressed by hard work behind the scenes, and at the vital moment mass mobilisation of supporters. Organisation, lobbying, education, campaigning and direct action when numbers are there, and pressure points identified is how to achieve change on specific issues. There can be long periods, years, when not much happens, then much can happen in a few days or weeks.

        NZ Labour is not timid on a number of things–snappy answers have been forthcoming during their 4 years when it comes to defending and sustaining neo liberal hegemony, and structural items such as Reserve Bank Act, State Sector Act, and SOEs.
        Wealth tax, CGT, rent freeze, Benefit increases etc. got prompt definitive ‘No’ answers from the PM and senior Ministers.

        70 plus NGOs have made a detailed case to the Govt. and have been politely told to sod off, meanwhile billions was essentially gifted to Finance Capital and property speculators. Trifold politics as described here, would enable a nice look inside the heads of people ensuring thousands of New Zealanders remain in cars, motels, garages, and lean tos (Far North).

        • RedLogix 5.1.1.1

          All that makes perfect sense. But like Ad you've leapt forward from the moral foundations which drive our political motivations and orientation – to the exercise of political influence itself. There is nothing wrong with this, it's like I'm talking about how the car engine is designed – and you're thinking about how to drive the car and where to take it.

          Both are essential and related – without the engine the car cannot move, and without a competent driver it goes nowhere.

  6. Ad 6

    If this theory worked in real life it would be reflected in the parties who actually hold power. It hasn't for the last 90 years in New Zealand.

    Some other axes are more important in how power is distributed and redistributed:

    • Mandate: does the public trust institutions to stabilise and redistribute power?
    • Agency: is there the capacity to change stuff, as individuals or as local or central entities, and am I sufficiently pissed off to want to change them?
    • Loyalty and charisma: More powerful than whether one is liberal or conservative etc, is whether one will follow the leader?

    Those who are engaged are usually engaged for one of the above.

    For the remainder 90% its simply down to the last two engagements they had with any public sector entity, including how they come across on the telly.

    • RedLogix 6.1

      Moral foundations nonetheless are the precursors to power. And more importantly the outcomes you want from wielding it.

      But yes the hypothesis in the OP doesn't attempt to explain the nature of political power – which has it's own principles and logic. That's worth a whole series of posts yes

      • Ad 6.1.1

        We haven't had a moral foundation to anything in a very, very long time. Do you remember a moral foundation being formed that generated a movement now in power?

        Precursors are kinda interesting in an historiographical sense.

        What would get anyone engaged now is whether their intersection with a public network or service was sufficiently disturbing to get up off of their lounge suite. 90% don't engage, and there's good reasons for that – none of which indicate presence or absence of moral foundation.

        • RedLogix 6.1.1.1

          I agree we've not arranged our collective politics on a moral basis for a very long time. But that doesn't mean the six moral motivations no longer inform our personal (often subconscious) orientations.

          In this I'm seeking to extend Haidt's research which quite reliably predicts individual political orientation. Keep in mind Haidt is coming from an evolutionary biological perspective, not a religious one.

          Or to frame this in the negative – what was the aspect of Trump that made him so viscerally loathed by the left? The lies and chaos are a superficial explanation; I believe it was his psychopathic lack of empathy (the caring principle) and his utter self-centredness (the fairness principle) that was so repugnant to us. Every time he spoke there was a sense of violation of our values – even in those moments when objectively he was making sense.

          Yet 74m other people voted for him (the largest ever to sitting President) and it's worth understanding why they could vote for him. Put simply, they could see his lack of empathy and narcissism, but other moral drivers (that Trump frequently exploited) ranked higher for them.

          And even for the 90% , while they don't engage much, most do get to vote. And they do play an important role in defining the Overton Window.

          Here's a thought. While power has, and is likely to remain, a constant in all human affairs (we're an irredeemably hierarchical creature after all) – what actually constitutes it changes with time. For much of our history it was the ability to invoke naked violence, then it morphed into more indirect forms, wealth, charisma, competency became the dominant factors. As you describe above.

          It's my view that as we politically evolve into a unified global civilisation – the most legitimate form of power will gradually become the capacity to be of service to others. Nothing else really works in such a context.

          But yes I’m reading your feedback as a valid challenge to moral foundations theory and how it relates to political power.

          • Ad 6.1.1.1.1

            I just spent the afternoon at the 80th birthday of two people who really ran a local council from an ideology.

            Their charisma remains powerful. Ideology and collections of explicit value were at their foundation and it was that which formed the propulsive seduction of their politics. I worked at that council for 6 years.

            From that family reunion – from which I am recovering this evening – we are delighted to remember our triumphs, remember who was present at the creation, remember it as tragedy and as love I guess.

            But actually theirs is a rare impulse of charisma, quickly swallowed up and actually which forms a very small part of our whole effort.

            Most of that effort and originary impulse was swallowed up in mergers and restructuring legislation.

            So I can't but frame a model of what it means to be a citizen through that which I devoted my lifework to.

            • RedLogix 6.1.1.1.1.1

              Oddly enough Ad when I read that I knew exactly what you were saying. I could relate a very similar experience working for a council (albeit in a less junior role) myself. Thanks for reminding me.

              Yes – personal power, competency, charisma and agency are precisely what I think more of us on the socialist left might do well to take more seriously.

        • Incognito 6.1.1.2

          Arguably, the NZ pandemic response has a moral foundation with engagement, one way or another, from the team of five million. In fact, a sample of snot of a 56-year old woman produced a number in a modern version of witchcraft and reading entrails that not only got the active attention of pretty much the whole population, all politicians, and the press media (incl. internationally), but has had a major influence and impact on the actions and behaviour of thousands of people. We have been at it with quasi-religious fervour for a year now and no sign of let up after a reminder by the high priests and throwing billions at it in a constant demonstration of sacrifice and redemption. Yet, with other crises that are affecting thousands of people on a daily basis, we get working groups & reports and loads of handwringing, at best, with the outcome being the only one that is acceptable and desired by the majority: status quo. This world is weird!

          • RedLogix 6.1.1.2.1

            There is good research (it would take me time to dig up a reference) that demonstrated how people living in countries with endemic infectious diseases tend to be more socially conservative.

            The deep biological explanation being that in times of plague, those who reacted by slamming closed the borders of the village were more likely to survive. And the whole notion of 'bodily purity' resonates very closely with ancient religious rules around hygiene and diet – many of which made a great deal of sense in a pre-medical era where disease was a daily and deadly foe.

            • Incognito 6.1.1.2.1.1

              Covid-19 is certainly at the forefront of our minds and is ‘endemic’ in that sense. Whether it’ll mean that we are or will become more socially conservative, I don’t know, but it is quite possible judging by reactions of people so far.

              Some countries are dangerously close to Code Black situations, which will and already has forced a fierce debate about ethics. The vaccination roll out is another ethical can of worms.

              My thesis is that moral foundations have never left (us) and if or when we dig deep enough, e.g. because of a pandemic, we find them as a hard and unforgiving bedrock. For some reason, the public and political debate have been framed as health vs. economy and almost actively and deliberately avoided any hints of morality. Is it a sin of modern political discourse talking about and in terms of morality, e.g. because it doesn’t fit within the neo-liberal narrative of rationalism? Yet, our individual and shared values underpin everything …

              I’ll bail from this now. Bye.

              • RedLogix

                Is it a sin of modern political discourse talking about and in terms of morality, e.g. because it doesn’t fit within the neo-liberal narrative of rationalism? Yet, our individual and shared values underpin everything …

                Yes. The death of organised religion (a related theme deeply explored by many others way more erudite than me) has made any mention of the human soul and morality a public taboo. But it seems to me this has left a religion shaped hole in our psychology that we often fill with ersatz ideologies for better or worse.

                The astounding success of the 'rational scientific method' and it's impact on our material welfare has indeed crowded out awareness of our spiritual welfare. But the two are not opposed to one another. There is only one singular reality, one creation if you will. Therefore all valid models of it, whether based in science or religion, must ultimately align with and complement each other.

                And usefully this also tells us that when the materialist and spiritual descriptions contradict, you know the model you're working with is incomplete.

                In short while we're really good at dialog rooted in external information – maths and maps – we're a lot less comfortable discussing our own inner realities.

          • Ad 6.1.1.2.2

            Functioning nation-states respond to crisis really well.

            I don't see any particular theumaturgic impulse in that – entrails or otherwise.

            But what I find weird is that we've had a reasonable-scale crisis about once every 2 years in New Zealand – and it hasn't let to any political renewal, or parties formed, or indeed movements evolve. It's almost like crisis is the only thing we really respond to.

            Not even crisis forces charisma now.

  7. Stuart Munro 7

    It's an interesting breakdown. But in recent political times there is not even a pretense of a possibility of good faith deals between opposing parties. They may not espouse actual left or right policies, but aside from a love affair with neoliberal dysfunction, they struggle to find anything resembling common ground.

    Paradoxically it’s the moral values we’re most deeply attached to that have the power to lead us into hell.

    The failure of contemporary NZ politics has been an inability to draw lines protecting our poor and disadvantaged. So we have record environmental destruction, inequality growth and suicide. At the political level there is little or no evidence of moral values, and it is the absence of them that has sent our self-styled leaders down the well-trodden path to cargo-cult corporatism. I'm going to reject your assertion there – as a presumption that does not account for contemporary phenomena.

    • RedLogix 7.1

      But in recent political times there is not even a pretense of a possibility of good faith deals between opposing parties.

      Well maybe we should consider what it would take to start getting better at them. All the alternatives being much worse.

      The failure of contemporary NZ politics has been an inability to draw lines protecting our poor and disadvantaged.

      Absolutely agree – and this being the consequence of a period during which the principle of freedom and growth were overriding the ones of caring and fairness. (And even those of stability and loyalty to some degree.)

      There is one more aspect to this trifold hypothesis that is based on little more than personal observation, but it's worth mentioning. Consider the major economic systems of the past 400 years and the order in which they appeared – first capitalism, then communism, then fascism in the period leading up to WW2. Expressions each of the dominance of the liberals, the socialists and then the conservatives.

      Since WW2 the cycle seems to have repeated itself in various 'neo-'; guises, neo-liberalism, neo-marxism and now neo-nazis have each in turn returned as echoes of their original forms.

      Pure speculation, but the kind of confectionary I can't resist. devil

      • Stuart Munro 7.1.1

        Well maybe we should consider what it would take to start getting better at them. All the alternatives being much worse.

        Attempts at good faith relationships with corrupt exploiters are unlikely to succeed and not in the public interest even if they did. We'd need a cleanout of Augean proportions before it’d be worth entertaining.

        • RedLogix 7.1.1.1

          Conservatives/liberals think all attempts at a good faith relationship with resentful communists who have lists of people to line up against walls is unlikely to succeed either.

          • Stuart Munro 7.1.1.1.1

            Who said anything about resentful communists? Thieving corrupt corporate shills are the bitter enemies of even the most moderate Fabian socialists – any attempt to tolerate their chicanery just results in massive thefts of public assets like Rogergnomics – the comprehensive economic failure that set our country back thirty years of relative prosperity. The divide in NZ is not left and right, but corrupt and not corrupt – and Labour sit on that fence like a row of starlings.

            • RedLogix 7.1.1.1.1.1

              Who said anything about resentful communists?

              Not the socialist left as a rule.

              As I mentioned in the OP it's a feature of human psychology to be hyper-aware of the threat others might pose – while at the same time we hold ourselves to be benign and well intentioned.

              • Stuart Munro

                Whether I'm well-intentioned or not is irrelevant – in the name of "centrism" the disastrous policies of Rogergnomics rain down on us like a biblical plague.

                public asset theft

                mass low-wage immigration and slave workers

                resource thefts like those of public water rights

                These are real problems happening right now – but you are determined to impugn my norms of good governance in the name of an utterly fallacious unprecedented and unachievable consensus.

                Your thesis is fatuous.

                • RedLogix

                  It might help if you're clear on this distinction.

                  • Stuart Munro

                    You have a forest of fatuity to justify a nonsense that strikes at the heart of the principles of democratic representation.

                    Instead of representing constituents and a consistent line of policy – MPs are to be instead an elected oligarchy who horsetrade away every public good they were to promote to their political enemies, whose votes they don't need anyway all under NZ's tightly whipped system.

                    I grant you it does look a lot like our government's weaksauce response to the largest majority since MMP – but there is nothing desirable about it.

                    • RedLogix

                      I'm not responding to this further.

                      Take a break and if you want to contribute to this thread later, re-read the OP with fresh eyes. Including Jonathon Haidt's research that's the source material for much of my hypothesis.

  8. Gabby 8

    [RL: Deleted.]

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    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    15 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    17 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    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
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 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
    11 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
    13 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
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