Trump’s not so bad: the disappearing hospital data during a pandemic edition

Written By: - Date published: 1:51 pm, July 18th, 2020 - 48 comments
Categories: covid-19, Donald Trump, us politics - Tags: , , ,

There is this idea on both the left and the right that Trump’s not so bad.  Minimising or being in denial of what is happening in the US risks helping the rise of fascism. You can read the original post here, or the series here.

This one’s been brewing in the past week,

NPR report,

The Trump Administration has mandated that hospitals sidestep the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send critical information about COVID-19 hospitalizations and equipment to a different federal database.

From the start of the pandemic, the CDC has collected data on COVID-19 hospitalizations, availability of intensive care beds and personal protective equipment. But hospitals must now report that information to the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC.

The change sparked concerns among infectious disease and health care experts that the administration was hobbling the ability of the nation’s public health agency to gather and analyze crucial data in the midst of a pandemic.

The new system was set up by TeleTracking, a private company based in Pennsylvania, which was awarded the $10 million contract in a non-competitive bid in April. In June, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the Senate health committee wrote a letter to CDC Director Robert Redfield, asking why TeleTracking was awarded the contract on a non-competitive basis.

“It’s entirely unclear why the Trump Administration has asked states and hospitals to upend their reporting systems in the middle of a pandemic — in 48 hours nonetheless — without a single explanation as to why this new system is better or necessary,” Murray wrote in a statement to NPR. “The Trump Administration is going to have to give a full justification for this, because until they do, it’s hard to see how this step won’t further sideline public health experts and obscure the severity of this crisis.”

My prediction: this particular issue of covid data will settle down enough that people will adjust. Trump’s administration do the extreme, then dial it back a bit so people feel a sense of relief that it’s not that bad, but it is still really bad. This is classic building fascism process.

The confusion around what is going on is also a tool here. When applied as it has been for the past 4 years, people can’t keep up. The overwhelm of confusion and transgression of cultural and political norms on a daily basis prevents effective resistance. It’s hard to tell from this distance how much is intentional and how much is just stupid, but in case it’s not clear, the administration being incompetent serves their purpose.

The thing that fucks me off here, apart from the obvious, is that I remember the conversations in 2016 about how people’s reactions to Trump’s ‘unconventional’ ways of doing things were them just not liking approaches that weren’t middle class or conventional. But this shit right here was predictable. We have conventions for good reasons, including that humans need ways of doing things that are reliable, relatable, and functional.

For people that weren’t busy making out that Trump’s not so bad, it was easy to see that breaking down political conventions right at the start was  going to serve an entirely different agenda.

Using private companies to manage public health data is neoliberal. Doing that suddenly in the middle of a pandemic, in a highly dysfunctional and disturbing way, and that removes public agency, is neoliberalism on steroids. Along with it also serving the fascist agenda this means it isn’t comparable with any of the alternatives. But Trump’s not so bad, right?

48 comments on “Trump’s not so bad: the disappearing hospital data during a pandemic edition ”

  1. adam 1

    So is trump not that bad – depends if you see imperialism and economic terrorism down the barrel of a gun as a bad thing or not. If you going to agree that it is, then be an adult and admit that obama, bush, clinton, bush and reagan have all been of the same ilk.

    This is not somthing in isolation. This is the extension of the same shit we been living with our whole lives.

    • weka 1.1

      false dichotomy. I'm sure Andre or someone will be along to argue the other side of the dichotomy so your side can be reinforced, but really I'm hoping we get past that some time soon.

      • Andre 1.1.1

        Andre or someone will be along to argue the other side

        Nah. When I choose to join an argument, it's usually because there might be something there that might lead persuadables into some weird places. In this case, weka, you've already laid out the problem in clear detail, so I don't see much to add to what's already there.

        I'm not interested in a bash-fest for the sake of it with someone that's unpersuadable in themself, and hasn't presented any kind of actual argument.

        I am a little surprised you avoided adding in something about what's going on in Portland – unidentifiable and unaccountable federal thugs disappearing people off the streets while they are legally protesting. The local and state government have asked the feds to remove their thugs and leave citizens going about lawful activity alone, but the fed thugs keep thugging, on the basis of an executive order from President Le Twat, C'est Moi.

        https://www.huffpost.com/entry/portland-federal-police-unmarked-vans_n_5f11affec5b619afc40096da

        • weka 1.1.1.1

          thinking about a stand alone post for that one.

          • Andre 1.1.1.1.1

            Gonna be a lot more shit like that ramping up to November and January next year. If not four years beyond that, given the "he's not so bad" types may still get their way.

            How busy writing and moderating posts do you wanna be?

            • weka 1.1.1.1.1.1

              I'm currently pleasantly pleased that TS isn't being overtaken by the US election 😉

              • Andre

                You have no idea how much self-restraint I'm applying. Expect the floodgates to burst sometime late September.

                • weka

                  Well done 🙂 If it gets to be a lot, I expect we will run dedicated posts for it. But I suspect most Standardistas are more focused on the NZ election.

        • joe90 1.1.1.2

          WTF are the NRA and all those freedumb-loving gun nuts who vowed to oppose government tyranny and overreach?

        • SPC 1.1.1.3

          These were the same goons used in DC, a group that Trump and his boy Wolf can send around the states (who control the National Guard) at their whim – or is that Democrat Governor state by Democrat Governor state.

          Wolf and Barr are a disgrace to their offices.

          • Andre 1.1.1.3.1

            Some of the agencies supplying the goons are the same, but Kim Jong Orange only has authority to deploy the National Guard and other military in Washington DC, not in any states.

            That's why it has to be thugs from the likes of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (part of Homeland Security), Customs and Border Patrol (also part of Homeland Security), US Marshals (Department of Justice) etc.

            Those agencies are authorised to operate in states under federal control. Federal control meaning they act at the direction of the executive branch. That normally means members of Cabinet with a degree of independence and autonomy, but right now have been perverted into mindless appendages of Darth Hater.

    • Draco T Bastard 1.2

      This is not somthing in isolation. This is the extension of the same shit we been living with our whole lives.

      The US has been a rogue state for decades. Now its failed political system, which was designed to give the US its own aristocracy in their newly wealthy capitalists, is failing just like all other aristocracies.

  2. Clearly he can't be all that bad if the Democrats are anything to go by… the Democratic-controlled House Armed Services Committeeto approved his massive $740.5 billion military spending package just 2 weeks ago..

    • weka 2.1

      oh do fuck off. Maybe you didn't understand the post, or read it. If you can't make an effort to comment in response to what the post was about then don't use the post for your Trump's not so bad lines, take them to Open Mike.

  3. Peter 3

    In the US people get very concerned about the idea of being made to wear masks. (They're made to wear car seat belts but that's different apparently.)

    Anyway, the situation described here is happening and militarized federal agents are deployed to the streets of Portland a couple of weeks after people were attacked on the streets to clear the way for a Trump-Bible-church photo op.

    Tell me the country isn't going to Hell in a handcart.

    Persuade me that the answer to the imperialism and economic terrorism of Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Reagan is having a deranged madman in charge who wants to be Kim Jong-il.

    https://apnews.com/95ed013d58a00db0d85ddfd14ab51d2c

    • Brigid 3.1

      " the answer to the imperialism and economic terrorism of Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Reagan is having a deranged madman in charge"

      I don't think it's being offered as the answer, but the legacy.

      What I wonder is, does the US not have a functioning opposition? How is it that the neanderthal can hand this vitally important data collection to private enterprise, and in the middle of a pandemic that's out of control, with little comment from the opposition.

  4. Incognito 4

    Yup, it’s a common technique and also used in calls for donations, for example. People are inclined to meet you somewhere in the middle so you have to make sure that you (can) shift the perceived middle closer to the point where you want it to be.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door-in-the-face_technique

    • Andre 4.1

      I presume that's in response to this paragraph of the OP?:

      My prediction: this particular issue of covid data will settle down enough that people will adjust. Trump’s administration do the extreme, then dial it back a bit so people feel a sense of relief that it’s not that bad, but it is still really bad. This is classic building fascism process.

      • Incognito 4.1.1

        Yup. By making extreme options seem more palatable, you can shift public (voter) opinion to meet you at a point that you decide and vice versa (it works both ways). The result is that half-extreme (‘not so bad’) options become accepted and normalised. It’s like the Overton Window. When Trump and everything he says and does is the ‘new normal’ and ‘he ain’t so bad, after all’ he will have achieved his goal(s) and he becomes ‘the ultimate, best, and most glorious winner ever’, a winner who will take all, let there be no doubt about it. IMHO.

  5. Dennis Frank 5

    Here's another look at the situation: https://theconversation.com/us-coronavirus-data-will-now-go-straight-to-the-white-house-heres-what-this-means-for-the-world-142814

    Control of information flow has always been part of retaining power. Not surprising that Trump would have a go. Key question: is it constitutional? Look to the Republican establishment for push-back if opinion leader believe the answer is no.

    The Lincoln Project has emerged as an organised fight-back by the rightist establishment, but judicial push-back would be even more of a problem for him. Too soon for fascist framing to seem realistic…

  6. Byd0nz 6

    Hope Trump wins again because its the best way to destroy America internaly, let them destroy each other instead of imposing their shit on other countries. For all that though, Trump hasnt pulled the trigger on anyone yet where as the Dems are good at making war, Im sure they would have jumped into Iran at the behest of the Israli facists. Go Trump, destroy your shit land.

    • joe90 6.1

      When the dirt-bag left converges with the scum-bag right, it's hard to tell the difference.

      /

      • Dennis Frank 6.1.1

        For instance Trump's decision to campaign against Soros. You know, that demon organiser of globalisation that the hard left got into organised demonising of, back around 20 years ago, or maybe that was in the '90s. https://theconversation.com/how-donald-trump-will-try-to-scapegoat-george-soros-to-win-re-election-140146

        Also I recall earlier when all the progressives got so starry-eyed about peace love & understanding that they started issuing media stories about how the UN was going to bring in an enlightened world government. Just a phase, but leftists did actually believe in the UN in those days. Obviously Trump never forgot. He voted Democrat in the '70s.

  7. Incognito 7

    There have always been reasons why Covid-19 death stats cannot and should not be taken at face value, even without an obfuscating Administration trying to cover up.

    Here’s a good and very recent write-up on this in The Economist: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/07/15/tracking-covid-19-excess-deaths-across-countries

  8. Draco T Bastard 8

    The new system was set up by TeleTracking, a private company based in Pennsylvania, which was awarded the $10 million contract in a non-competitive bid in April.

    Ten million for a brand new, never been tested, reporting and database system across all of the US?

    Yeah, that's not enough. Not by a long shot. I'd say that its been set up to fail and done in such a way so that everyone has plausible deniability.

    The US is gone. It's no longer just a rogue state but also a failed state.

    • Anne 8.1

      The US is gone. It's no longer just a rogue state but also a failed state.

      The so-called Super-Power is no longer a super power. Imo, it hasn't been for a long time.

      First the American people in their state of ignorance and confusion elect a despotic madman for president and the rest follows as surely as night follows day.

      We are watching as the world draws ever closer to the most dangerous time in human history yet our respective leaders turn away and pretend it isn't happening.

      • Draco T Bastard 8.1.1

        The so-called Super-Power is no longer a super power.

        That was proved the first time that they invaded Iraq but the Administration at the time realised that they couldn't hold and left and so no one really noticed. The second Bush Admin tried to hod on and the rest of the world realised that the US simply didn't have the capability to do so.

        China have taken that knowledge and run – its why they're now claiming that which isn't theirs and the proof is the US is doing nothing to stop them. And that's a failure of all of us in the West in holding the US as an umbrella against the bad guys. The rest of us don't know how to act against an aggressive state without the US leading.

        First the American people in their state of ignorance and confusion elect a despotic madman for president and the rest follows as surely as night follows day.

        Its been happening for awhile but the USians, being hung up on how great they are, didn't notice. Hell, their constitution was written to ensure that the rich stayed in power despite the nation being a democracy.

        We are watching as the world draws ever closer to the most dangerous time in human history yet our respective leaders turn away and pretend it isn't happening.

        The world leaders do what they're trained to do – kowtow to power and the power resides with the rich who don't want the governments of the world acting to curtail their scourging of the world.

    • Tricledrown 8.2

      Remember what Trump called Africa he is now turning the US into a shithole.

  9. Hiding the numbers is just the latest attempt to cover up the disaster that has been Trumps corona virus response. It should come as no surprise to anyone, especially considering how Attorney Barr has been interfering in the judiciary to protect the president from those offices and agencies looking into his finances and actions.

  10. Stuart Munro 10

    I think the nub of the particular issue is that the public, and the media that are supposed to serve them, have become exceptionally poor at dealing with corruption.

    Using private companies to manage public health data is neoliberal. Doing that suddenly in the middle of a pandemic, in a highly dysfunctional and disturbing way, and that removes public agency, is neoliberalism on steroids.

    Using private companies that are dysfunctional is by no means confined to the US, but it is at odds with the putative benefit for which neoliberalism was adopted in the first place – the healthy commercial discipline that was to displace the flabby culture of public service.

    In this instance Trump is exploiting the dysfunction for political advantage – but the solution within the reigning paradigm ought to be the appearance of those black-hearted gentlemen, the liquidators, who, citing failure of specific performance, should be exercising the penalty clauses that due diligence surely builds into into every public private contract.

    Trump is by no means unique in not exercising such provisions, for reasons that can loosely be described as political. Delays to the Transmission Gully construction for example, ought to be similarly subject to contractual discipline. The real failure of neoliberalism is that there is little or no chance of that happening – the use of private partners has introduced as much or more flabbiness as existed under the state management that preceded it.

  11. SPC 11

    The reporting system in the US was substandard and in urgent need of an upgrade.

    “The data is moving slower than the disease.”

    Fax machines…. all pandemic response needs to nationwide on-line and ID based. A nation is without security otherwise

    On average, his office is getting all the information it needs about a test result 11 days after the test is taken — far too late to make contact tracing worthwhile. He has been advising those in the area with virus symptoms to assume they are positive, since the tests take so long to come back.

    Dr. Frieden noted that in other countries, like Britain and Canada, patient data travels with a unique number that identifies whom it belongs to. The United States tried to set up a similar system in the mid-1990s, but it died after Congress passed legislation barring the federal government from creating the new ID numbers

    They left their nation defenceless.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/upshot/coronavirus-response-fax-machines.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

    There are two issues, upgrading their system, and whether the data goes from CDC onto NHS or DHS onto CDC.

    Given the NHS boss is a political appointee and this is an election year the politics in play is all too obvious.

    • McFlock 11.1

      I mean, what about the US response to this pandemic makes you think they privatised the data system in order to improve it?

      • SPC 11.1.1

        The system they had was shite. But yeah if they were going to improve it they would get rid of that 1990's legislation and allowed nationwide reporting using health ID as part of an on-line rollout.

        • McFlock 11.1.1.1

          local test results jamming the fax machine are a different issue to a universal ID.

          either way, this move by the administration is simply to cloak the numbers. It's fucked.

    • Draco T Bastard 11.2

      The United States tried to set up a similar system in the mid-1990s, but it died after Congress passed legislation barring the federal government from creating the new ID numbers

      Which, you can almost be certain, would have been shouted down by the Evangelicals and other radical Christians as the mark of the beast.

  12. SPC 12

    The Trump administration has ordered hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and, beginning on Wednesday, send all coronavirus patient information to a central database in Washington — a move that has alarmed public health experts who fear the data will be distorted for political gain.

    Department of Health and Human Services and not the C.D.C., will collect daily reports about the patients that each hospital is treating, how many beds and ventilators are available, and other information vital to tracking the pandemic.

    Officials said the change should help ease data gathering and assist the White House coronavirus task force in allocating scarce supplies like personal protective gear and the drug remdesivir.

    “Centralizing control of all data under the umbrella of an inherently political apparatus is dangerous and breeds distrust,” said Nicole Lurie, who served as assistant secretary for preparedness and response under former President Barack Obama. “It appears to cut off the ability of agencies like C.D.C. to do its basic job.” news of the change came as a shock inside the C.D.C., which has long been responsible for gathering public health data,

    The dispute exposes the vast gaps in the government’s ability to collect and manage health data — an antiquated system at best, experts say.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/politics/trump-cdc-coronavirus.html

  13. Peter 13

    I just looked at the calendar – July 18th. Why are they updating their public health data system? I thought it was going to be all over by Easter and that was in April wasn't it?

  14. Dennis Frank 14

    Starting to look more like a bureaucratic shambles than fascism: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-coronavirus-data-mess_n_5f11fc48c5b619afc4014697

    There are conflicting accounts surrounding the data’s disappearance. News outlets initially suggested that Trump’s administration had directed the CDC to wipe the figures from its website. In interviews with Politico, however, officials at HHS placed the blame squarely on the CDC itself: “No one came out of our conversations believing that CDC was going to stop doing analysis,” an anonymous HHS official with direct knowledge of the situation told the outlet. “All it did was feed into this narrative that we were cutting off the CDC when that’s not what happened at all.”

    Nearly a week’s worth of data on hospital capacity is still missing. While the CDC restored the dashboards that had been taken down, as of Friday afternoon, they had not been updated beyond July 14. The result, Panchadsaram said, is that researchers are unable to provide a full picture of how hospitals are faring during the crisis. More than 30 states are recording increases in cases, and the U.S. recorded a record 75,600 new infections on Thursday, according to a New York Times database.

    Panchadsaram said he does not believe the shift in policy was malicious but was rather intended to streamline data and make things easier on hospitals. The result, however, was that it kept key coronavirus data from the public. Panchadsaram hopes that HHS uses this as an opportunity to figure out how to share all of the data it has with the American public.

    “Don’t just give us back these one to two indicators, share everything you’re seeing,” he said. “Put us on the same page as you.”

    There is more the administration has opted to keep to itself as it pushes for schools and states to get back to normal. An internal White House document obtained by the Center for Public Integrity shows that 18 states are in the “red zone” for COVID-19 cases, with more than 100 per 100,000 people last week.

  15. Wayne 15

    I note the World o Meter site does not have any data from Sweden since July 2. Very odd.

    I am inclined too go with Dennis Frank on this. Unlikely to be a real fascist conspiracy. It would very extremely difficult for the administration to convince officials in the Health Department to conceal data. There would be an instant whistle blower situation.

    Also $10 million seems extraordinarily light for a national database.

    • Andre 15.1

      An under-resourced, utterly clueless, incompetent, bungled fascist attempt to control information in order to conceal unfavourables, that never had a chance of really being successful, is still an attempted illiberal attack on the general public by malignant government officials.

    • Pingao 15.2

      Wayne – for the data on Worldometer, Sweden seem to add their data every few days over the last 2 or 3 weeks on the Coronavirus "live" site.

      https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/

    • Incognito 15.3

      Look more carefully and click on the Swedish source link.

  16. Treetop 16

    The death toll from Covid-19 in the US will never be known. The information on death certificates would also need to be scrutinised.

    This can be said about other countries with a high death toll.

    What are the qualities that a leader needs to have in order to manage the social disruption that Covid-19 causes?

    • McFlock 16.1

      We'll have some fair estimates.

      The tabulations won't just include covid on the death certificate. In countries where it runs rampant, the number of death certificates compared to previous years will be the other end of the count.

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    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day 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
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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