What happens if Twitter dies?

Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, November 8th, 2022 - 95 comments
Categories: internet, Media, twitter, uncategorized - Tags:

It seems strange to type this but Twitter may be terminal.

The social media site that has become the go to for many years for journalists, politicians and any one interested in news especially breaking news may be on its death bed.

If this happens it can be traced back to Donald Trump, whose infamous banning for the promotion of an insurrection has caused some whose extreme views of the right of free speech as well as the rights of unfettered capitalism to take action.

Eion Musk, backed by a shady coalition of financiers, has since bought the platform and promised there would be greater free speech, essentially for right extremist groups to say what they want.  It appears that the structure of the deal will essentially wreck the platform.  It will either fold under the weight of debt and diminishing advertisement income as advertisers flee an increasingly hostile environment or Musk may sell before it does so.

Either way I doubt it will ever return to its former glory.

Twitter shows all that is good about the Internet, as well as all that is bad.

It has allowed for breaking news to be spread world wide, for nuance and detail to flesh out news stories.  It allowed for like minded groupings of people online to form and for friendships to develop.

It has also allowed for disinformation to be spread widely.  It accentuated anger and conflict, more temperate postings did not usually get the same attention.

It replaced blogs.  It is clear to me that in the heyday of the Standard, where intense debates involving the likes of Whaleoil and Cactus Kate as well as Standard authors used to be quite common.  Those debates and interactions have since moved onto twitter.

What Twitter came to resemble was a great big commons where information and disinformation was laid out for all to see.

Twitter’s actions in holding back Trump’s assault on democracy was a perfectly valid and much needed step to take.  Using your platform for the mass promulgation of fake news should not be tolerated.

When Musk announced his take over of Twitter he said:

Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”

But now that he is in control he has engaged in the sort of censorship which does not normally comply with usual understandings of the freedom of speech.  Like banning parody accounts:

Musk’s response appears to be a response to accounts that parody him.  He has the thickness of skin of Donald Trump.

It also reflects a general response by the right to parody.  Remember when Trump threw DOJ resources into attempts to find out who on twitter was impersonating Devon Nunes’ cow?

Musk’s attempts to improve profitability includes an attempt for tick holders to pay a monthly price for the benefit of doing so.  This has not gone down well.  He has responded by blaming activist groups for Twitter’s financial woes when clearly it is a case of spooked advertisers backing away.

And if you think that Musk is politically impartial he has just advocated for people to vote Republican.

This is like watching a slow motion train wreck.  I predict that Twitter will never be the same.

95 comments on “What happens if Twitter dies? ”

  1. Tiger Mountain 1

    Surely those with even half a brain, have either already deleted their Twitter account, or are seriously considering doing so.

    What an oaf Mr Musk has turned out to be–spring loaded revenge sackings at Twitter, and a union buster in his own businesses. Monopoly capitalist ownership of media demonstrates an adage from analogue days–“the freedom of the press belongs to those that own one…”

    • lprent 1.1

      I haven't deleted it, but I certainly don't notice it.

      For the last few years the twitter composite e-mails about tweets have been my main contact – and they have their own special folder that go into automatically (along with facebook and medium come-ons). They just clog my mailbox otherwise.

      I go into them for a quick scan when I have dead time. That is usually in the middle of the night when I wake up and need an anodyne flare of people saying nothing much of interest to put me to sleep.

      I didn't even realise that twitter has advertising – because I just ignore that.

      I have also found that google discover (which is on within chrome on the cellphone) is a lot better at finding articles that I might want to read.

  2. James Simpson 2

    Twitter has been a cesspit for as long as I can remember.

    People from every side of the political spectrum go on there and abuse each other all day every day. People that think it has (or has ever had) any value need their heads read.

    • tc 2.1

      It got alot worse as soon as Elon stated he wanted to buy twitter which speaks volumes about Musks' perceived values out there.

      Much like Rupert, it's all about the power of the platform as it never appeared smart financially (non profitable, full of debt) and probably why he's got the Saudi's with a strategic stake using their dark deep pockets.

      IMO Twitter can and probably will be replaced mickey, like mySpace was. Plenty of gifted engineers no longer at Zuck central etc sitting on the wealth their share options made for them feeling bad about the monsters they helped create. Funding would be the biggest challenge.

    • Phil 2.2

      People from every side of the political spectrum go on there and abuse each other all day every day.

      Meh. Not that different to an average day here.

      The comedy and creative arts scene has a vibrant and thriving Twitter community.

      Sports twitter has a wonderful mixture of intense fandom, incredible analytical thinking, and archival footage from bygone eras.

      • observer 2.2.1

        Yes, I'd agree overall. Some Twitter threads have been very funny, in fact non-political Twitter can be a gem.

        I'd miss that.

        • Sacha 2.2.1.1

          It is as good as the people you follow. Some brilliant people; some arseholes. Best human search engine I have ever been lucky enough to find.

          What will topple it is not the ethical/advertising tightrope but the cocky overlord firing all the engineers who keep it running.

  3. I have never had a Twitter account and never will.

    I think I saw the train wreck in a vision and stayed off the tracks completely.

  4. Tony Veitch 4

    The moment Musk completed the purchase of Twitter, I ceased to comment on the platform!

    'One small step for mankind . . ."

  5. tsmithfield 5

    What I find Twitter useful for is as a source of immediate information on topics I am interested in.

    The downside is that the information also has to be taken with a large grain of salt as it hasn't been fact-checked or verified. However, with that in mind, I still find it useful.

    I try and stay away from the abusive stuff as that is not my style, and not something I enjoy.

  6. Sabine 6

    Nothing will happen. No more then when myspace died, or when Facebook will die, or when Linkedin will die. People will move to a different service. Rinse repeat.

  7. Sanctuary 7

    If twitter dies Elon Musk loses 44 billion dollars, so there is that to look forward to.

    • tc 7.1

      Does he ? or do bankers and others as rarely do the billionaires tip their own cash in.

      One financial commentator, and he's not alone was puzzled how Elon made it work as he reckons Tesla's 80% pixie dust it's soooo overvalued. Interesting times.

      • Sacha 7.1.1

        He loses Tesla. And some non-US backers lose a few billion between them.

      • roblogic 7.1.2

        Yeah Elon could lose Tesla, he's loaded a pile of debt on to Twitter but he also tied up heaps of his Tesla shares with the transaction. There's a reason he tried to back out of his crazy overvalued offer.

        The previous owners evidently had some faith that their trajectory would become profitable in time, given the high engagement & celebrity involvement. But attempts to monetise all that activity have proven elusive. Elon has taken away any semblance of a carefully planned business model

        Perhaps he thought he could cut costs with no consequence, and find revenue by magic as he has done with his government funded ventures (scams) in the past.

        Perhaps he thought he could use Twitter as a huge marketing channel for his own crypto schemes, or pump & dump the shares.

        Turns out the "titan of business", "10x engineer", "billionaire playboy genius" is just another shabby amoral opportunist, who tripped over his own hubris.

    • roy cartland 7.2

      No way. He'll make any loss into a gain for himself, just watch. The deck is stacked, all his 'investments' are completely risk-free for him. Depressing, but you'll see.

  8. Corey Humm 8

    As someone whose main priority politically is regulating and breaking up big tech and ending data mining…isn't it glorious.

    Meta lost 70% of it's stock value. Compared to twitters 200 million global users there are 2 billion Facebook users plus a billion IG users. Plus Whatsapp and oculus. Mass lay offs coming.

    Amazon, Tesla, Twitter , Google stocks all in the absolute crapper and the BEAUTIFUL thing is because these billionaires refuse to pay tax their money is all in company stock so when company stock crashes so does their net worths. I <3 it

    Social media was a mistake. Algorithms have turned every aspect of life has become ugly and hateful, not just politics, rivalries between fans of sports teams, musicians, movie franchises book series it's all gone to the sewer.

    These companies have put billions of people in our own individual dimensions where our prejudices and bias are reinforced to the point everyone we disagree with is an enemy.

    My generation doesn't know much of what society was like pre social so much of it genuinely sees disagreement and political debate no matter how polite as a form of hate speech.

    If these stocks continue to crash and these companies go under…. Good. As long as TikTok owned by the Chinese (and banned in their country for a reason) is banned , maybe people can connect again and learn to agree to disagree on some issues.

    Social media radicalizes people. Everyone on it gets radicalized in some way. Its algorithms are designed to upset you and make you feel worthless while reinforcing your bias so you think everyone agrees with you.

    Social media going may just save the world, not to mention big tech and crypto are worse for the environment than big oil due to their server farms.

  9. Sanctuary 9

    "…Social media was a mistake…"

    Not so sure of Social Media is a mistake. However, giving control of it to the sociopathic crypto-fascist techno-libertarians who own the globalised corporations defintely is.

    Properly regulated social media should be an absolute boon for society – like it was in it's infancy, when it brought people together.

    • Maurice 9.1

      "Properly regulated social media should be an absolute boon for society"

      Ah! ….. but exactly whom or what will "properly" regulate?

      A Left or Right wing Government appointed 'regulator' ….. or perhaps a UN Agency?

      • Sanctuary 9.1.1

        We've never had issues as a society in the past with the principle that the government has a right to regulation of content, be it the chief censor or statutory media regulation bodies.

        Personally I would like to see social media companies treated like any other publishers and subject to the same libel and criminal laws as the traditional print and broadcast media. They are responsible for their content – see how quickly a few big libel payouts would change their behaviour.

        • Maurice 9.1.1.1

          A basic problem arises in that Social Media is Trans National and very mobile/nimble which evades individual Government reach and very difficult to subject to constrained local legislation.

          Only Trans National entities could regulate … but do not have the power or reach to effectively do so in a comprehensive manner. There would be veto in there somewhere!

        • Ad 9.1.1.2

          +100

    • theotherpat 9.2

      and together the people came….hunched over their screens in silent rooms……

    • lprent 9.3

      Properly regulated social media should be an absolute boon for society – like it was in it's infancy, when it brought people together.

      I must have missed that period. However I only really started with jumping on BBSes with dialup followed by usenet.

      Umm plus playing multi-user star trek on VT100s in Waikato's DEC 1170 back in 1979/1980 in the middle of the night. The chat dialog was full of surprised and spontaneous comments as someone would come out of warp with front-screens on full and ram me.

      • Sanctuary 9.3.1

        Facebook was enormous fun when it started, that is why it exploded. QED.

        • lprent 9.3.1.1

          I was rather blasé about facebook myself. Been there and done it on usenet and previous systems.

          It was kind of fun seeing the non-tech family and acquaintances coming online. It also reminded me about just how damn sensitive and outright lazy most people really are when challenged on their beliefs and opinions. Plus how little they had actually thought about the implications of their touted solutions and grizzles themselves.

          Twitter just felt like the dick comparison advertising forum by smart arses. A deft implied slander substituting for intelligence.

          Never got into it because, especially with the original short text, most participants never really got into the habit of explaining why I should click on their reference links.

          • roblogic 9.3.1.1.1

            Twitter is like a garden, it can be pleasant and full of goodness when used well, but utter garbage if not curated and sifted over time.

            There are some brilliant people on there, but (per the 80:20 rule) also a surplus of trolls, fools and scammers.

  10. riffer 10

    I will miss it, but it will be replaced with something else soon enough. You see, the platform isn't the participants. It just enables them. I have been, like many others, flirting with Mastodon. It's quiet, but I hope it picks up.

  11. Ad 11

    Why aren't there more social democrats running big tech?

    There is nothing inherently politically regressive about social media.

    On the contrary as Habermas implied it could be communicative utopia.

    Pretty weird after massive security bot breaches before US elections that such speech isn't Broadcast Commission regulated.

    Until social media is broadcast-regulated the pitiful instability is going to get worse and worse.

    • arkie 11.1

      How many social democrats have the capital to purchase overvalued big tech companies? How many social democrats own traditional media?

      The model of private ownership over public services will always result in capitalist accumulation.

    • weka 11.2

      Why aren't there more social democrats running big tech?

      ethics.

    • Andy 12.1

      This seems legit. Kathy Griffin just got banned for impersonating Musk, claiming that he was a friend of Ghislaine Maxwell.

      Griffin is an alleged comedian whose idea of a joke is holding the severed head of Trump in her hands.

  12. SPC 13

    The former president has told his allies that he can’t leave his Twitter clone because he’s propping it up, and he doesn’t want a site so closely associated with his brand to collapse.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/07/trump-once-reconsidered-sticking-with-truth-social-now-hes-stuck/

  13. Andy 14

    Meanwhile, as Twitter users fiddle with their pronouns, the US war machine pumps money and arms into Ukraine and Haiti and thousands die

    • Sanctuary 14.1

      As long as lots more Russian soldiers than Ukrainian ones are dying I am pleased to see the US war machine doing some good for a change.

      • Andy 14.1.1

        I'm not happy about the US war machine killing anyone.

        But I guess we're heading off topic.

      • gsays 14.1.2

        ”As long as lots more Russian soldiers than Ukrainian ones are dying“

        During Bush War One, Bill Hicks quipped he was for the war but against the soldiers.

        His motive for saying it was comedy…

      • roblogic 14.1.3

        What a damnable waste of human potential. Putin is destroying Russia's future. It was already in demographic free-fall.

        The illusion of Russia being a modern G8 nation was founded on oil & gas. Now it's gone up in smoke

    • newsense 14.2

      Just imagine if they could load those extra letters onto a transport or load them into artillery!
      Give ‘em L sergeant! Mind the Ps and Qs private! E’s a good egg, captain!

  14. Stoops1 15

    How can twitter be on its deathbed when it has like 230 million daily active users?

  15. joe90 16

    And if you think that Musk is politically impartial he has just advocated for people to vote Republican

    And now he's backpedaling…

    https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1589730392420278272

  16. Peter 17

    Asking "What happens if Twitter dies?" is like asking what happens when Trump wins the Presidential election.

    If Twitter dies other platforms will happen. If there is money to be made it will happen.

    The bit about Trump? One thing for sure, they'll all be lining up for pardons and clemency.

    All the legal wranglings Trump himself is involved in will come to nought as he'll block, overturn or stretch out anything against him. The only hope is that a bit of 'fast track' happens miraculously. Imagine him holding one of his massive rallies in jail!

  17. joe90 18

    What happens if Twitter dies?

    The former owner swings by and picks over the bones for anything useful?

    Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey might have something for you – Bluesky Social, a new “decentralized social network” that reportedly aims to reclaim user data. Dorsey stepped down as CEO of the social network he co-founded in 2006 in May 2022.

    https://www.geekmetaverse.com/jack-dorsey-unveils-bluesky-social-the-decentralized-twitter/

    • roblogic 18.1

      "Bluesky", is so abstract that there is no actual network yet, just a pile of theoretical protocols. @Jack is more interested in his crypto crap nowadays.

  18. AB 19

    I'm suspicious of 'free speech' warriors on the right. Mostly what interests them is maintaining the cultural and political dominance of the sort of speech they prefer. They become particularly enraged when their formerly hegemonic opinions start to experience some minor nibbling away at the edges. This minor nibbling is reviled as 'political correctness gone mad'.

    • newsense 19.1

      I mean we could be watching what the history books may be allowed to call a stage of American fascism. There is a concerted attack on the essential mechanics of a democratic state. The former president asked people to ‘find’ votes for him. Many of those who were not inclined to do that have been hounded out of their jobs. We’ve got thousands of election deniers getting jobs at a low level right through all levels of the system. We had the army turned out for a presidential photo op under the last presidency. The judiciary has had a concerted effort to flood their ranks with one side of politics. There’s a sympathy for dictators in Russia who push white nationalism and an anti-women, anti-sexual diversity ideas and elsewhere over democratic allies.
      We see the Supreme Court has been pushed away from the people’s polled opinions. They may not be a sufficient check on executive and legislative power. The wife of a long serving justice was in contact with the president’s chief of staff trying to push a coup det’at. It didn’t succeed, so they’re improving on it at every point. Plus a considerable number of people in the US believe there will be another civil war and have been arming themselves accordingly.

      So yeh that’s where your free speeches come from – or maybe as someone said it’s the final sulk of a fading power base and it’ll pass as every election there’s a panic about something. But it does rather feel like the culmination of decades of ‘conservative’ organising in many areas.

  19. Adrian Thornton 20

    " extreme views of the right of free speech"…you do understand that in most democratic countries including the USA, speech is is well covered in law…so hate/racist speech etc could and should be easily be moderated by those existing guidelines…what we don't need is extra, often murky layers on top of those laws (which is exactly what is happening)..especially when they are implemented by unelected boards on what is in effect are public forums.

    • Sanctuary 20.1

      But the problem is that since the end of the cold war the West has allowed itself to be persuaded by neo-liberal politicians and self-serving libertarian technology billionaires that we've always had an absolutist right to unfettered free speech – something that was carefully (if informally) controlled when western capitalists lived in mortal fear of the spread of the contagion of Soviet & Chinese communism.

      Since the collapse of communism the liberal democracies have essentially complacently allowed globalised and completely unregulated free speech, something quickly identified as an obvious weakness and massive propaganda opportunity by the weak, fearful and reactionary Russian successor state as a way to wage undeclared asymentric warfare and exploited to the max by Putin's troll farms (and all the rest). The result – Trumpism, the alternative facts news ecosystem of the US right, the rise of right wing populist culture war polticians – has been massively exacerbated by the parallel atomisation of society and celebration of narcissistic hyper-individualism.

      Any attmept now by nation states to put the genie back in the bottom has to contend with a phalanx of porn addicted fan bois worroed about losing access to pornhub, techo-libertarians, billionaire Randian fanatics, trolls of every description and well funded lobbyists. hence, short of an emergency like a war politcians are only glacially moving toward formal regulation using both existing and potentially new mechanisms.

      • Adrian Thornton 20.1.1

        Sanctury…you are so far down the rabbit hole that even the weasels won't be able to touch you….for what ever reason you seem determined to ignore the plain that by far the largest and most significant misinformation/disinformation on the planet comes from the West and Western allies…unfortunately now led in large part by once was considered Liberal media, now nothing more than mouthpeices for Western neo-imperialism.

        Researchers Find Massive Anti-Russian ‘Bot Army’
        "An Australian university has unearthed millions of Tweets by fake accounts pushing disinformation on the Ukraine war, Peter Cronau reports. The sample size dwarfs other studies of covert propaganda about the war on social media."

        "By aggregating account groups we find significant information flows from bot-like accounts to non-bot accounts with behaviour differing between sides. Pro-Russian non-bot accounts are most influential overall, with information flows to a variety of other account groups. No significant outward flows exist from pro-Ukrainian non-bot accounts, with significant flows from pro-Ukrainian bot accounts into pro-Ukrainian non-bot accounts."

        • Andy 20.1.1.1

          Adrian I think you are spot on here. We are not being told the truth about Ukraine in the MSM. Jeffrey Sachs just did an interview with Russell Brand on this very topic

      • roblogic 20.1.2

        That is the dark side of social media. But it also has huge potential to enhance democracy and call the powerful to account.

        Twitter and similar platforms give a voice to the voiceless, per the Arab Spring and other pro-democracy movements in places like China.

        This is why Musk's takeover of Twitter just in time for the US midterms is highly suspect. The people he fired were responsible for keeping the platform relatively open and free of the worst speech (Trump)

  20. Since he took over the company, he has already fired half of the staff and announced several changes, the most controversial being the one that will make us pay $8 a month to keep or put blue verification on our profile, a relevant change, since unverified accounts will lose visibility.

  21. Stuart Munro 22

    If Twitter dies:

    – a handful of less-clever-than-they-thought politicos will avoid trashing their careers

    – third rate journalistic hacks will need to find some other grounds for their reckons

    – a tiny proportion of the VRWC will find itself briefly unmusked

  22. weka 23

    I still have a twitter account. Musk is an uber fuckwit with a massive ego whose doing a lot of damage to the world, but are any of the big tech companies run by anyone else?

    I'm enjoying Mastodon. Different structure, different culture, more ethics in both. More conversational than confrontational. If you're in NZ join mastodon.nz if you want to follow the NZ accounts and content.

    • roblogic 23.1

      Yesterday I applied for a login at the techy server, mastodon.nzoss.nz, but haven't gotten an email yet. How long did the signup for mastodon.nz take?

      • weka 23.1.1

        Not sure for the ones you have to request access. Afaik the others are instant. I’ve had an account at .nz since earlier in the year and remember

    • Andy 23.2

      An uber fuckwit who is the richest man in the world, made the coolest EV and got SpaceX going. I'm no man of the man but your description does seem a little, erm, harsh, shall we say?

  23. All the stories are coming out now, you can't fire half of your staff in 1 week and still have a functioning company. The feed algorithm doesn't seem to be surfacing stuff like it used to — much more repetitive. There is a huge drop in the number of ads. It is only a matter of time before systems that require maintenance will crap out because the people that owned them have left. RIP twitterverse.

    I really enjoyed it – the rough and tumble of random discussions – the ability to express yourself honestly – the immediacy of being able to ratio politicians/ flunkies and their PR crap.

    I followed some major themes: Politics, Science, Religion, Philosophy, Photography, Economics, Tech Gossip, Tolkien, Culture … and learned a lot.

    It takes a while (months/years) to curate an interesting variety of accounts to follow and keep it fresh. But the most important tool for quality of life is block/mute/unfollow. "Do not feed the trolls" is a truism as old as Usenet. There are infinite bad takes out there, most of them are not worth engaging. Like anything, your personal wellbeing and boundaries should be of primary concern.

    I've blocked and reported dozens of gross & hateful accounts. It can be a real sewer. Probably written a few toxic tweets myself but I try to stay positive mostly.

    • Andy 24.1

      I can't recall the exact amount but Twitter is a company losing several million a week.

      I'm not sure how this qualifies as a "functioning company" by anyone's standards.

      In the early days, maybe by projecting on future growth, but Twitter has been around for a long time

  24. joe90 28

    By Christmas it'll be Musk, assorted wingnuts, nazis, and a weird troupe of Muskateers.

    https://twitter.com/CaseyNewton/status/1589797015780982786

  25. Mike the Lefty 29

    If/when Twitter dies – the world as we know it will not end.

    Perhaps a lot of people might get a life.

  26. Hanswurst 30

    The biggest problem with Twitter is that almost any idea (as opposed to reckons and throwaway opinions like this one) that can be expressed in 280 characters or fewer probably isn't worth expressing anyway.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • EV road user charges bill passes
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April.  “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • Bill targets illegal, unregulated fishing in international waters
    New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • Reserve Bank appointments
    Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates.  Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • Stronger protections for apartment owners
    Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • Travel focused on traditional partners and Middle East
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend.    “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says.   Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • Keep safe on our roads this Easter
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Cost of living support for over 1.4 million Kiwis
    About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Tenancy reviews for social housing restart
    Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary plan halted
    The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Cutting all that dam red tape
    Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track.  “Dam safety regulations ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Drought support extended to parts of North Island
    The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Passage of major tax bill welcomed
    The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Lifting economy through science, tertiary sectors
    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government announces Budget priorities
    The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.  The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government to consider accommodation solution
    The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government approves extension to Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care
    Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says.                                         “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • $18m boost for Kiwis travelling to health treatment
    The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says.   “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM’s Prizes for Space to showcase sector’s talent
    The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Concerns conveyed to China over cyber activity
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government.     “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry
    Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function.  The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Brynderwyns open for Easter
    State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Speech to the Infrastructure Funding & Financing Conference
    Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Parliamentary network breached by the PRC
    New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • NZ to provide support for Solomon Islands election
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ-EU FTA gains Royal Assent for 1 May entry to force
    The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union.    “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • COVID-19 inquiry attracts 11,000 submissions
    Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says.  “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Families to receive up to $75 a week help with ECE fees
    Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Unlocking a sustainable, low-emissions future
    A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Chief of Army thanked for his service
    Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders
    25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Government commits nearly $3 million for period products in schools
    Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Speech – Making it easier to build.
    Good morning, it’s great to be here.   First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning.  I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Pacific youth to shine from boost to Polyfest
    Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • 2024 Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships announced
    ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to Breast Cancer Foundation – Insights Conference
    Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Kiwi research soars to International Space Station
    New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Planning Institute
    Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Support for Northland emergency response centre
    The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed.  “Northland has faced a number ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Celebrating 20 years of Whakaata Māori
    New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Some commercial fishery catch limits increased
    Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-28T17:14:48+00:00