We used to be better at this

Written By: - Date published: 11:48 am, March 19th, 2012 - 68 comments
Categories: benefits, jobs - Tags:

Danyl at Dimpost had a good post the other day about benefit numbers and showing that they go up in relation to hard economic times – not because people these days are a bunch of lazy solo parents who just need a kick up the arse. If you look back even further than he did, you see that unemployment is a result of ideological political choices.

Here are the long-run numbers on the dole and DPB from MSD’s Statistical Report:

As Danyl points out, there’s no ‘crisis’ in DPB numbers that justify the Nats’ obsession with going after solo mums. There has been an increase during the recession but, even so, the numbers are significantly below the trend of the past 25 years.

The DPB was introduced in 1974 mainly to give women and their children some measure of financial independence if they had to leave an abusive relationship or the relationship broke down for other reasons. It took time for that be fully realised – every battered woman in the country didn’t leave her husband as soon as the DPB became available. But since the mid-80s DPB numbers have been between 2% and 3% of the population.

There is some link with unemployment numbers with the correlation suggesting that the ‘zero unemployment’ level of DPB take-up would be about 1.5% of the population – above that is due to economic factors. In today’s numbers – full employment would bring about 48,000 people off the DPB.

The dole numbers, when compared to unemployment numbers, suggest you would get zero people on the dole with the unemployment rate still at about 2.5% – presumably the rest would be people in short-term gaps between jobs that wouldn’t have time to get the dole or people who are otherwise ineligible. The 0.87 correlation between dole numbers and the unemployment rate tells you it’s not ‘bludging’ but lack of jobs that’s the problem

And it wasn’t always this way. Look at the start of the graph. 0.1% of the population on the dole – and that was up on a decade before! The huge rise in dole numbers is clearly linked to the ideological moves of neoliberals who decided it was better to have an army of unemployed people on the dole – creating competition for scarce jobs to drive down wages.

The Right would respond that, before that, tens of thousands were employed in ‘do nothing’ jobs by state departments that acted as employer of last resort. Well, when the alternative is paying out $11,000 a year for the dole, losing another $8,000 in tax take, depressing wages, and the numerous social consequences of endemic unemployment in communities, employing less than 2% of the population in jobs that might not be strictly economic viable in their own right seems like a fair deal overall.

When you consider the total costs and benefits, having the government shell out some coin to create jobs for 60,000 people that wouldn’t happen on a purely commercial basis seems like a social and fiscal winner. We used to do it, after all. But do any of our parties have the imagination for that these days, or have they all drunk the neoliberal kool-aid so much that they think having tens of thousands of people on the dole is unavoidable, even natural?

68 comments on “We used to be better at this ”

  1. tsmithfield 1

    “Danyl at Dimpost had a good post the other day about benefit numbers and showing that they go up in relation to hard economic times – not because people these days are a bunch of lazy solo parents who just need a kick up the arse.”

    So, since unemployment numbers went up much more during the period from 1987 to 1993, and given that the current recession is much tougher than it was during the period from 1987-1993, is it fair to say that National has been handling the much tougher conditions far better than might have been expected.

    • McFlock 1.1

      Better than might have been expected from Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson implementing a massive reorienting of the economy, indeed. The National Standards approach to government evaluation – set the benchmark low enough and you’re guaranteed to “achieve”.

       

    • “So, since unemployment numbers went up much more during the period from 1987 to 1993, and given that the current recession is much tougher than it was during the period from 1987-1993, is it fair to say that National has been handling the much tougher conditions far better than might have been expected.”

      Sure.

      They gave away billions in tax cuts and then borrowed $380 million a week to make up for the shortfall.

      If Labour had done that, TS, you’d be somewhat displeased at such irresponsible profligacy. But it’s ok when National does it.

      By the way, unemployment in the early 1990s was over 10% – contrasted to the 7% in the last couple of years.

      • aerobubble 1.2.1

        And they won’t borrow but instead want to sell high returning assets in a energy constricted future.

    • Rob 1.3

      and its trending down so we are on the right path.

      • aerobubble 1.3.1

        High global commodity prices will continue to keep the dip feed of do-nothing parliaments of both left and right. Labour CGT will only bring us up to international average. To go beyond we need to build culture of give a damn. As opposed to the can’t give damn that housing is so shate, earth quake prone, deregulation kills people, etc, etc.

  2. The actual cause of unemployment is not ‘ideology’ but falling profits due to an inherent tendency within capitalism to stagnate. http://critiqueofcrisistheory.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/the-failure-of-capitalist-production-by-andrew-kliman-part-2/
    The ‘ideology’ comes in when the unemployed are blamed for unemployment, most viciously when solo mothers are targeted as welfare cheats having babies to avoid work when raising children is the most demanding job there is.
    The economic purpose of NACTs welfare reform is to force 30,000 beneficiaries onto the queue of unemployed driving down wages to create more cheap jobs. This is the NACTs job creation scheme.
    Of course that’s why the NACTs adopted WWF, because that too is nothing but the subsidising of a cheap labour economy that pays unlivable wages paid to a growing sector of the labour force.
    NZs current role in the global division of labour is to produce cheap commodities, including labour, for the large imperialist corporates. Time for decolonisation.
    http://redrave.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/nz-time-for-decolonisation.html

    • Tiger Mountain 2.1

      The tendency for the “rate of profit to fall” has long been controversial. The ratio of constant to variable (usually ascribed to labour) capital is a sliding measure. There are numerous dense writings about this. And it gets rather complicated in these times of free lancers in nerdy glasses thinking that they are their own boss, and SMEs rather than huge industrial settings. The thing is the total macro effect of the current means of production and the inflow and outflow of capital.

      Dave is correct that our political rulers are really comprador capitalists, not that he expresses it in that way. Workers of the world unite!

  3. felix 3

    “Well, when the alternative is paying out $11,000 a year for the dole, losing another $8,000 in tax take, depressing wages, and the numerous social consequences of endemic unemployment in communities, employing less than 2% of the population in jobs that might not be strictly economic viable in their own right seems like a fair deal overall.”

    Why are you assuming that depressing wages and breaking down communities are negatives in the equation?

  4. Gosman 4

    Interesting that DPB numbers aren’t that responsive to the wider health of the economy from the looks of that graph. I fact they have been within the 2 to 3 percent band for the past two decades.

    • felix 4.1

      Yeah, bugger all innit?

    • To a degree, Gosman.

      Though like the example of my partner’s cousin; she came home early one day to find her hubby, suitcases in hand; leaving the house. He was walking out on her; their three children; and was shacking up with his co-worker.

      That left the poor woman distraught; three children to care for (youngest 18 months); the oldest child angry and resentful; and she’s had to go on the DPB. They are upper middle class I guess.

      Meanwhile, ex-hubby is now living with blonde co-worker and enjoying himself.

      Funny thing… some in society demonise solo-mums, and yet they’re the ones left holding the baby (literally). Solo dads or absent fathers never get this kind of grief from society. (No criticism of solo-fathers – it’s hardly their fault.)

      I also blogged about another friend of ours (a solo-mum) who has done all the right things; http://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-solo-mum/

      Unfortunately, Bennet canned the TIA which has helped so many women get off the benefit and into employment. (The same benefit that Bennett used to put herself through university and buy a house.)

      • Gosman 4.2.1

        I don’t think too many people demonise women simply for being on the DPB (certainly not in the mainstream). It is more their actions while on the DPB that they might get criticised for such as having additional children while on the benefit.

        It is obviously harder for absent father’s to be targetted in the way you suggest as they don’t tend to self identify themselves and even if they acknowledge they are absent father’s they might have valid reasons for this. Perhaps it was their wife that left them and took the kids with her and won’t let the man see the kids.

        • felix 4.2.1.1

          “I don’t think too many people demonise women simply for being on the DPB (certainly not in the mainstream).”

          Nah just in parliament, in nationwide radio commentary, in opinion pieces in the major newspapers and all over the internet every day. Definitely not in the imaginary mainstream though.

          • Gosman 4.2.1.1.1

            So where is the evidence that someone is demonised purely for being on the DPB as opposed to their actions while on the benefit? You stated this happens in Parliament so do you have a link to a copy of Hansard where an MP is doing this?

            • felix 4.2.1.1.1.1

              Careful Gosman, you’re opening a can of worms.

              I could link you to any number of nuanced statements from Bennett and Key who have said women choose the DPB as a lifestyle many times in many different ways.

              But if I start insisting on links to evidence of every idea that seeps out of your filthy hole you’re going to have a very hard time diverting threads from now on.

              • Gosman

                I don’t mind providing evidence for my claims when asked. For example my claim about the relative unemployment rates of countries with left and right wing economic policies. I am more than happy to contrast places like the US and Sweden or New Zealand and Finland. In fact I have provided a number of links in the past that have done something very similar including an article from the Economist whoich highlights major issues with Sweden’s unemployment rate.

                • felix

                  So what? You’re asking for evidence of a perception which is quite another matter.

                  But if that’s the road you want to go down, I’m ready. Let’s play.

                  • Gosman

                    Go for it then. Provide examples where Paula Bennett denigrates people on the DPB purely for being on the DPB.

                    • felix

                      No thanks, I think I’ll jump directly to demanding evidence for everything you say, as agreed.

        • Vicky32 4.2.1.2

          Perhaps it was their wife that left them and took the kids with her and won’t let the man see the kids.

          My heart bleeds! 😀 If a woman does that, you can guarantee there’s a good reason, inasmuch as a woman is not legally allowed to not let the man see the kids – unless she can prove he’s a danger to them.
          (I well remember my friend in Welly, trying desperately to get her daughters to go and visit their father without creating a huge fuss every time. They didn’t want to see Daddy, but J., wasn’t legally allowed to let them off going)

      • Kotahi Tane Huna 4.2.2

        @Frank – Bludger Bennett scored a house? Perhaps that’s why RWNJs are so convinced that beneficiaries are all ripping off the system – it’s what they would do.

    • Blighty 4.3

      Interesting how Righties tend to miss things:

      “There is some link with unemployment numbers with the correlation suggesting that the ‘zero unemployment’ level of DPB take-up would be about 1.5% of the population – above that is due to economic factors. In today’s numbers – full employment would bring about 48,000 people off the DPB.”

  5. ChrisH 5

    Imagine if 60,000 people were employed to fit insulation in homes and make our cities more beautiful. Just saying.

    • King Kong 5.1

      You are onto it Chris H. Its called work for the dole.

      Just over the road from my house in Thorndon is Anderson Park and the Rose Gardens which was constructed under a similar scheme and is a great success.

      • No, not work-for-the-dole.

        Let’s try something more imaginative; bolder; and more dignified; let’s try REAL jobs for REAL pay.

        Wouldn’t that be better?

        • Gosman 5.1.1.1

          What’s a ‘Real’ job Frank?

          You could employ almost everybody who is unemployed as policy analysts for the civil service. Would that be a ‘Real’ job?

          • Frank Macskasy 5.1.1.1.1

            That is an inane question to ask.

            • Gosman 5.1.1.1.1.1

              No it’s not. It goes to the heart of the divide between left and right. The fact that you are seemingly unaware of this speaks volumes of your understanding of the other side of the debate.

              • Yep in Helen Clark’s time there were thousands of low quality jobs created such as teachers jobs and nurses jobs …

              • framu

                sorry gosman

                your silly style of discussion goes nowhere near the heart of the divide between left and right

                • Gosman

                  Care to expand on that or should we all just take you at your word?

                  The right believes you can only have social spending when you have a productive economy to support it.

                  The left believes that having a decent level of social spending will encourage the productive sector.

                  You disagree with this accessment then please tell me what is wrong with it.

                  Please note I am not meaning whether you think the arguments put forward by either side are correct or not. Just focus on the fundamental differences between the arguments.

                  • felix

                    Actually the left believes that people in a civilised society have a right to a decent job to provide for themselves and their families.

                    The right don’t believe there is such a thing as society.

                    • Gosman

                      The left pays lip service to this idea about everyone has a ‘right’ to a decent, (whatever that actually means), job. When you look at the reality around the world left leaning Governments tend to only resolve this problem in the short to medium term by increasing the size of the state sector at the expense of the private. Over time the Unemployment rate is similar or higher to those from right leaning countries.

                    • felix

                      So what? Did I claim to speak for left-leaning governments? Please argue with what I said, not with your own imagination.

                      Interesting that you don’t know what the word “decent” means in this context. How about “dignity”, any clues about that?

                      Or do those concepts not factor into your model easily enough?

                    • Gosman

                      I never stated you did. I’m merely pointing out that it is easy to say you stand for something that you deem to have value. If the results of your actions though is nothing better than someone who you believe doesn’t place the same value on that same thing then who is failing?

                    • felix

                      “I never stated you did.”

                      You didn’t need to, you responded to my assertion about a belief held by “the left” with some waffle about “left-leaning govts” so either you’re accusing me of speaking for them or you’re changing the subject and pretending you’re not.

                      “who is failing?”

                      You and your model. You can’t quantify decency and dignity so you deny their relevance.

                      Ultimate fail. Humanity fail.

                  • framu

                    thats all good and well – but…

                    “You could employ almost everybody who is unemployed as policy analysts for the civil service. Would that be a ‘Real’ job?”

                    …. is on the same level as “well lets make the minimum wage $100 per hour”

                    when you typed it you were (hopefully) just being a bit cute, not actually discussing the heart of the divide between left and right.

                    Im pretty certain im not the only one who notices that some comment threads get filled with inane distractions and absurd arguments from yourself

                    • Gosman

                      I wasn’t the one who brought ‘Real’ jobs into this discussion. All I want is for the term to be qualified exactly what it means. The reason I took it to extremes was to highlight the problem with just using it in an argument. It is meaningless without further detail.

                    • framu

                      ” The reason I took it to extremes was to highlight the problem with just using it in an argument.”

                      bollocks IMO – its just part of the little game you like to play here and on other blogs

                  • Foreign Waka

                    Gosman, reading through your posts is like reading “the Piano” as brutal and last century as the book. The future will hold even more challenges when the automation really takes hold. Robots can actually do most of ANY job these days. So what are we going to do in the next 20 or so years? Today’s School leavers will be not only affected by the logistic of arguments but also by forsight of what kind of society we want to be.

                    • Gosman

                      ‘Robots can actually do most of ANY job these days’

                      Really???

                      Take I.T. as an example. What evidence is there that Robots can do most of the job around application development?

                      Are these self financing Robots as well? Do they go out and create their own capital required to start the business and then go out and distribute their own products to themselves without any human interaction?

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      Take I.T. as an example.

                      Why? Oh, that’s right, because it’s something that can’t, yet, be done by machine.

                      How about we take something a little more basic like, McDs. McDs is basically a production line for burgers and, as such, everything done to produce their burgers could be done by machine up to and including taking and giving out the orders.

                  • eljaydee

                    Gosman, The right’s concept of social spending is to outsource it to a friendly corporation whereas the left prefers to provide it directly to the reciptients.

              • felix

                Gosman,

                The left/right divide is best highlighted here by the fact that you think your suggestion that hiring thousands of unemployed workers to insulate homes is comparable to hiring thousands of unemployed workers as policy analysts is a serious matter for discussion.

                • Gosman

                  I think it is a pretty fair comparision. What happened in Australia when they spent all that money on a similar insulation scheme?

                  • felix

                    Those two sentences are unrelated.

                    • Gosman

                      Just employing someone to do a job isn’t necessarily a good thing felix. That is the relationship.

                    • felix

                      And that one is unrelated to the first two.

                      Are you set to random today? You’re not even up to your usual dribbling standard.

                  • Tiger Mountain

                    Your desiccated text Gozzie is like a repeating loop from an existential screenplay written by an Algerian torturer.

                    Proscribing poverty for others is rarely the work of someone on the minimum wage .

      • lprent 5.1.2

        Problem is that work for the dole requires a much greater investment than simply paying the dole. Shovels, tools, and supervision. Historically the central National government has been keen to have work for the dole. However they don’t cough up the required cash to actually create sustainable work for the dole schemes.

        And whenever it has happened in the past it invariably winds up as simply reducing the amount of real work because typically local government and community groups get pressured into covering the government’s arse. But the schemes seldom last.

        Stupid policy generally.

    • muzza 5.2

      Imagine if the governments of this country over the past 40 years were doing what was best for NZ and its people!

      Nah fcuk them, and the country, we will do what we are told from offshore, bit by bit we will have them all sticking pins in eachother..they will not even try to look for the real problems, we will simply divert their attention is gadgets and toys, while disenfrachising them from democratic process through corrupting of government!

    • Lanthanide 5.3

      Yes, imagine how many houses would burn down from improperly installed insulation by unskilled (and uncaring) people pulled off the street as a make-work activity, as has happened in Australia.

      • Rob 5.3.1

        I would stop using the Aus insulation case study as it has turned out to be a disaster. There has been lots of call backs due to incomplete and sub standard work, a multitude of businesses set up quickly to take advantage of the scheme have fallen over and gone to ground giving consumers and local govt a real issue to fixing up poor quality installation.

        Dont get me wrong here, the idea of insulating houses is vary valid. Just the execution of this particular programme in Aus has been a horror show and will continue to be for a long time.

        • Lanthanide 5.3.1.1

          That’s why I’m referencing it.

          It’s all very well saying “lets give home insulation jobs to all those on benefits!” but when push comes to shove, actually installing insulation does require some level of skill and competence, otherwise it is a disaster.

          It’s like after the February quake there were a few people on here saying we should get beneficiaries to lay drains in CHCH because it’s as easy as just picking up a shovel or some such tripe. I argued strenuously against this and was eventually backed up by several drain-layers who completely agreed that it simply isn’t work that beneficiaries with little to no training can do.

          • felix 5.3.1.1.1

            Why is everyone assuming that we have to put people in jobs they haven’t been trained for?

            Surely we train them first, no?

  6. Jimmie 6

    A silly question to ask – if the DPB was introduced solely to allow battered women to leave an abusive relationship why don’t they make it a requirement to get the DPB for the batterer to have been prosecuted and convicted in relation to the assault.

    That way only the really desperate and needy women folk would get the DPB and anyone who decided that popping kids out was a great career choice may decide differently.

    Especially as now with the pill etc. having a baby is more of a choice than an inevitable outcome of a night of passion. If there are single mums who cannot find work then put them on the dole.

    I mean what happened to all the single mums before 1974? Ya can’t tell me there were tens of thousands of women getting beaten up all around NZ – the trouble is ya make something freely available and may folks will take you up on the offer – Physiotherapy anyone?

    • Vicky32 6.1

      A silly question to ask – if the DPB was introduced solely to allow battered women to leave an abusive relationship why don’t they make it a requirement to get the DPB for the batterer to have been prosecuted and convicted in relation to the assault.

      Yes, it is a bloody silly question, based on a depth of ignorance that’s truly appalling. When I was first on the DPB in the late 1970s, I had to produce proof of legal separation from the man who battered me. Waiting for the man to be prosecuted and convicted would mean asking the woman and her child(ren) to starve for a year or 18 months.

      That way only the really desperate and needy women folk would get the DPB and anyone who decided that popping kids out was a great career choice may decide differently.

      Ah, the old breeding for a benefit meme. Are you so stupid that you believe that happens?

      Especially as now with the pill etc. having a baby is more of a choice than an inevitable outcome of a night of passion. If there are single mums who cannot find work then put them on the dole.

      More hate-filled ignorance. Women on the DPB are women who were previously in a relationship – whether they were single (de-facto) or married. IMO, women who have single ‘nights of passion’ are not women who become single mothers.

      I mean what happened to all the single mums before 1974?

      Their children were (sometimes forcibly) adopted out. Some lucky few were, with the help of their parents, able to keep their child.

      Ya can’t tell me there were tens of thousands of women getting beaten up all around NZ –

      More ignorance. Because, dick-wad, yes, there were.
      (Are you, too, an American? I ask because you cover all the bases in regard to the ‘welfare queen’ meme – and use a shedload of Americanisms..)

    • Blighty 6.2

      yeah, let’s go back to the golden days before 1974 where raping your wife wasn’t a crime, where physical ‘discipline’ of both wife and children was widespread, where children had to be adopted out and where women had to prove it was the man’s fault to get support if they left him.

    • felix 6.3

      Wow, I don’t think I’ve seen so much ignorance in a single comment for a while.

    • Populuxe1 6.4

      Yeah, because being pregnant is so much fun! Not to mention any woman can get pregnant at the drop of a hat… Oh and being a solo parent is non-stop jollies…. You, Jimmie, are a disgusting and ignorant man.

    • rosy 6.5

      A silly question to ask – if the DPB was introduced solely to allow battered women to leave an abusive relationship why don’t they make it a requirement to get the DPB for the batterer to have been prosecuted and convicted in relation to the assault.

      Yes, a silly question. The DPB wasn’t introduced to allow women to leave violent men. It was introduced so single parents (usually mothers) could have an income that they would otherwise have had to go to court to get from the child/ren’s non-custodial parent (usually fathers).

  7. Colonial Viper 7

    There is a serious misunderstanding on this thread around workers vs robots. During times of increasing systems and resources fragility, human workers will win usually win. During times of increasing energy and resource abundance, mechanisation and automation will usually win.

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  • 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day 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
    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
    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
    2 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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 ...
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Funding hole for tax cuts growing by the day
    The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Luxon’s brave climate change promise
    The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles  and that ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days 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
    3 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
    5 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
    5 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
    19 hours 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
    23 hours 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
    5 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
    7 days 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
  • Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity
    This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti.  Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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