What is the best way for a political party to handle a sex scandal?

Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, July 22nd, 2020 - 61 comments
Categories: jacinda ardern, Judith Collins, national, Politics, same old national, sexism, uncategorized - Tags:

It has been a big couple of days in New Zealand politics.

Sex scandals do this.  There is too much titillation involved.  And they are difficult.  There are human lives at stake, the victim, the perpetrator, the families of each.  Everyone wants certainty and justice.

So how does the left wing and the right wing handle these allegations?  There have been a few recent examples.  We can work out what the likely future response will be.

There was Andrew Little and Mike Sabin although this example relies on the general handling of allegations of inappropriate behaviour because the details have never been publicly specified.  Little was told about issues concerning Mike Sabin shortly after he became Labour leader.  Instead of trying to milk the issue he had his chief of staff tell National’s chief of staff about the problems.

I am still impressed by this.  Andrew was the newly minted leader of the opposition at the time and the desire to get media attention must have been huge.  Instead he held off and trusted National to sort the problem out.

I earlier posted this:

Note the ethical decisions made here.  The Standard was not told.  The first post we did on Sabin was my post in late December based entirely on a Sunday Star Times Article.  Parliament was sitting at the time.  The opportunity was not taken to embarrass Key with questions in the house.  The issue was dealt with in a quiet apolitical way in the hope it could be resolved.

Can you imagine if National had the equivalent piece of information?  Slater would have been posting non stop on the issue, the media would have been briefed, and there would be an all out hatchet job done on the unlucky victim.

National is trying to say that the only relevant date is the date that Eagleson told Key and no one can disprove that it happened on December 1.  But this is so improbable.  The media were asking his office questions about Sabin in August 2014.  Do you really believe that the Prime Minister’s office would ignore media enquiries into an allegation that a National MP was being investigated by police for an assault?

The story is not over yet.  The Police “no surprises” policy which caused them to advise Anne Tolley of OIA requests concerning Maurice Williamson and his interference in the prosecution of Dounghua Liu must have kicked in.  What was she told and when?

What ever the outcome it is clear that Andrew Little’s recollection is significantly better than Key’s and that he really is a principled politician.

And there is the recent matter involving former National MP Andrew Falloon.

He was accused of sending inappropriate photographs to young women.  His resignation clearly confirms that there is something in the story.

It emerged because late last Wednesday night Jacinda Ardern’s office was advised.  This is significant.  I am theorising here but I suspect that Falloon has the contact details of young women sympathetic to the National Party on his phone and sent to them unusual graphics of dubious taste.  I am pretty sure no young lefties would provide him with contact details.

His behaviour was of such concern that a couple of weeks ago a complaint was lodged with the police.  I get the strong impression that the complaint to Jacinda only happened because the family were so distressed that the police would not do anything.

I understand why the police did not take the matter further.  The law relating to objectionable material is complex and disturbing material does not qualify.  It has to be really disturbing and the availability of the material has to be likely to be injurious to the public good.

This is difficult for people to understand.  But unsolicited pictures to young women are not illegal unless they are really, really sick.

Jacinda’s decision to refer the matter to National’s leader’s office is in the best tradition set by Andrew Little.

But some elements are probing to see if somehow Labour can be smeared with what happened,

Yesterday Tova O’Brien sent out this really unfortunate tweet.

 

Let’s see.  The Labour leader did not deal with the letter immediately because she was out in the country doing what good Prime Ministers do and meeting with people.  Note to Tova.  Prime Ministers do not wait at their desk answering emails.  They receive hundreds or thousands of emails each day and have staff and a system to handle them.  Expecting a sub 24 hour turnaround is just crazy.  I rarely achieve this as the chair of a local board in Auckland.  Expecting the Prime Minister to achieve this is just bananas.  I am amazed that the response did not take weeks.  I have a formal letter to the Minister of Fisheries that has not been responded to even though it was sent way longer than 12 months ago.

Did Judith fail the country?

You becha.  She put out a press statement suggesting that Falloon was resigning because of mental health issues and not because he had been sending dodgy material to teenage women and had been found out.

On one hand we have a leader that has led us through a terrorist attack and a world wide pandemic and has kept us in a stunningly good place.  On the other hand we have a want to be leader that told porky pies about one of her MPs who was ushered out of Parliament because he had done decidedly dodgy stuff.

And this morning Judith engaged in the dead cat strategy and said publicly that she had received an allegation of inappropriate behaviour by a Labour Minister and had passed it on to Ardern.

There is some attempt to suggest that Judith is now past her earlier ways of giving back double and is trying to live up to Jacinda’s standards.  If this was the case she would not have publicly announced the leak.  This removes her handling of this claim from the responsible category and transfers it to the wallowing in mud category.

There is another recent example involving an allegation of sexual misconduct and the use of it by National for political advantage.  That was National’s milking of the allegation of sexual assault made against a Labour activist.  The matter was fully investigated by the party and the conclusion reached by the QC instructed was there was insufficient evidence to back up the most serious allegations, critical elements of the complainant’s version of events were incorrect and she had admitted providing “misleading information” to the investigation.

I earlier said this:

Serious questions should be asked about Paula Bennett’s behaviour.  And why she rushed to judgment and politicised this for political gain.  It seems clear that she milked this for all it was worth and did not care about the complainants.  They were collateral damage.

She kept asking about why Labour did not have a “victim led response”. With the benefit of hindsight hers was anything but.

Using the protection of Parliamentary privilege she smeared the Prime Minister, as well as senior staffers in her office, and basically went to town on them.  Serious questions need to be asked, like did she actually talk to any of the complainants and what was she actually told.

And will she apologise.

It would be good for the National opposition to leave behind Dirty Politics and get on with releasing their discussion documents and having policy debates.  This trashing individuals for political advantage is not only tedious, but it is damaging for all involved and ultimately it damages the political process.

Jacinda Ardern has called a press conference to reply to Collins’ claims.  This could be another big day for New Zealand politics.  I just hope that everyone has enough gas in the tank to deal with the international pandemic that so far we are handling really well.

61 comments on “What is the best way for a political party to handle a sex scandal? ”

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  1. Robert Guyton 1
    22 July 2020 at 10:33 am

    My hope is that the Prime Minister will speak to the processes around allegations such as the one Collins has floated, rather than addressing this particular issue. If she calls for a clean approach to such matters, especially the sly method Collins has used here, the PM might be able to gain control over that seam of political behaviour and neutralise the misuse of material such as Falloon clothed himself in. It would be a bold action to take. I hope she does.

    • Just Is 1.1
      22 July 2020 at 10:52 am

      We'll find out at the announcement at 11 I guess.

      Collins is seething after Arderns comments that "Bought the house down in laughter yesterday".

      It wasn't pretty for the opposition yesterday

  2. Peter ChCh 2
    22 July 2020 at 10:43 am

    Ian Lees-Galloway. Why am I not surprised?

    Our PM's intention to be 'kind' is admirable, but really, getting rid of incompetents like the Minister for Health Clark (hiding in Dunedin breaking the lockdown during the worst crisis to hit NZ in post war years) , and the incompetent Lees-Galloway (does he not realize double barrelled names went out in the 80s and no longer impresses anyone?) would actually have been kind to NZ, and to
    the government itself.

  3. Just Is 3
    22 July 2020 at 10:44 am

    Just one word describes it

    PROFESSIONALLY.

    Probably not in the Collins vocabulary

    • Peter ChCh 3.1
      22 July 2020 at 10:52 am

      How can you possibly say that?

      Maybe you are correct, but as yet, we have no idea of the what or the when, or whether full disclosure will occur in the PM's news conference.

      • Just Is 3.1.1
        22 July 2020 at 11:03 am

        I'm referring to Collins release of the info, deliberately.

        We will find out shortly about the substance, evidently Ian Lees Galoway is the member under scrutiny

        • Chris 3.1.1.1
          22 July 2020 at 11:56 am

          It can only have been deliberate. Ardern said the tip off was made without the woman's knowledge. The timing, Garner's question and everything else points to Collins orchestrating all of this.

          What Collins has done shows how dumb she is. It's well accepted politicans, staff and press gallery people get to know each other pretty well, and there's a strong convention that says none of this is ever talked about.

          If Collins has broken the rule then there'll be media people not happy. This might all backfire quire nicely for her.

          • Peter chch 3.1.1.1.1
            22 July 2020 at 12:14 pm

            Chris, you mean Collins orchestred Galloway having an affair? I never thought of that angle 🤔

            • observer 3.1.1.1.1.1
              22 July 2020 at 12:20 pm

              If she had only told Ardern, but not the AM show, what would have happened?

              The same result. Ardern sacked ILG before Collins talked about it on TV.

              Collins only did that because she is Judith Collins.

            • Chris 3.1.1.1.1.2
              22 July 2020 at 12:40 pm

              Well, you have now. Well done. I wouldn't have thought of that, either.

    • Climaction 3.2
      22 July 2020 at 3:36 pm

      professionally is right. Sacrificed a third rate back bencher for one of Labours strongest performers.

  4. Robert Guyton 4
    22 July 2020 at 10:45 am

    Gone in 60 seconds! Aegean stables stuff, this!

  5. weka 5
    22 July 2020 at 10:46 am

    Good post micky. Thoroughly sick of Collins, and O'Brien.

    I do want to raise this: this is not a sex scandal. A sex scandal would be something like Ardern as PM or Collins as Opposition leader having an affair while married. Historically no-one would care (eg Lange and the press ignoring the open secret), but I guess now it would be Tova-ed to death.

    A man in a position of power, eg an MP, sending pornographic images to young women is sexual harassment. I'm not talking legal definitions here but appropriate human behaviour and sexism/misogyny.

    'Sex scandal' blurs the boundaries between sex and abuse and that is part of the problem in NZ culture generally that leads to men acting in this way. It can also lead to conversations online where people dismiss victims and run rape apology or rape culture lines and thus the culture is reinforced. Feminists have been pushing back against this language usage in the MSM for this reason, it would be good to not have it used on TS.

    • Peter ChCh 5.1
      22 July 2020 at 10:54 am

      Good definitions and clarification Weka, although sexual abuse is by no means an exclusively male domain.

    • Just Is 5.2
      22 July 2020 at 10:58 am

      I put a lot of this down to the "Loss of Moral Compass" from the Key era, I was disgusted at his views and the hair pulling, any other country in world would have forced a resignation for any leader delving in that behavior, but in NZ the media went along for the ride

      Key was morally corrupt, and the media loved it.

      • Andre 5.2.1
        22 July 2020 at 12:04 pm

        … any other country in world would have forced a resignation for any leader delving in that behavior …

        Right now a majority of Americans are desperately hoping next year brings them a new leader whose creepiness goes no further than hair and slight handsiness and intrusions into personal space.

    • mickysavage 5.3
      22 July 2020 at 8:03 pm

      Thanks Weka. I agree. This is inappropriate activity from a married man and on the other side it was creepy grooming behaviour from an elected official. They are different. The media won't treat them differently though.

      It was a label I used because everyone was going to conflate the two incidents.

  6. Ad 6
    22 July 2020 at 10:53 am

    A great question which the Labour Party is about to have to answer, with Minister Lees-Galloway resigning.

  7. greywarshark 7
    22 July 2020 at 11:15 am

    Sex scandal – if the society becomes too prudish and prurient it impinges on private life too much. But people do need to keep their 'privates' private, it is boorish to be sending images. Sex seems very interesting to everyone, a lessening of thinking about it, watching porn might be healthy for many.

    Having an affair while married is a private matter I would think. Something for the couple to deal with themselves. If it does not affect the performance of the person in their job then it should remain their private concern, but it is not right for unsuitable gender behaviour to intrude into the work place.

    • I Feel Love 7.1
      22 July 2020 at 1:17 pm

      Cheating is not a private matter, it involves separate families, social groups, children, workplaces, schools, real estate agents, therapists and lawyers, & many others, this idea that "affairs" are private matters is what people who cheat think, those cheated on, & having to clean up the mess left & get their shattered, humiliated lives back together, not so much.

  8. Enough is Enough 8
    22 July 2020 at 11:23 am

    According to Robert Reid these rumors have been circulating for months within the beltway.

    Why did it take a Collins and Garner hot job on breakfast TV for anything to be done about it?

    • Chris 8.1
      22 July 2020 at 12:53 pm

      Because Collins decided to use this as the vehicle for 'giving back double'. It's as simple as that. Not well thought through on Collins' part, though.

      • Enough is Enough 8.1.1
        22 July 2020 at 1:42 pm

        Collins has a scalp and the media has moved on from the Falloon scandal and ILG scandal.

        Don't you think that might have been her objective?

        • Chris 8.1.1.1
          22 July 2020 at 1:57 pm

          Isn't that what I just said?

          Collins' message to Ardern is "there's plenty more where this came from. I know you haven't got the guts to operate like this because it doesn't bode well with your prissy kindness and sunshine bullshit, so we're safe. But you know that I'm not like that and you know that I always give double back so look out".

          • Enough is Enough 8.1.1.1.1
            22 July 2020 at 2:03 pm

            I was questioning your comment on it not being well thought through.

            She got exactly what she wanted

    • I Feel Love 8.2
      22 July 2020 at 1:19 pm

      O'Brien asked the question, twice, as she said rumours had been going around for awhile, will she ask Collins the same?

  9. ianmac 9
    22 July 2020 at 11:25 am

    It seems that the damage done is self-inflicted by Lees-Galloway. Luckily there seems to be nothing damaging for innocent parties apart from the Galloway family.

    Jacinda sacked him from his portfolios but he chose to stand down from re-election.

    The whole deal is as good as can be expected. Quick and decisive. The PM reacted well.

  10. Maurice 10
    22 July 2020 at 11:30 am

    Live by the Sword

    Die by the Sword

    There is certainly being a clean out of prurient politicians … of both stripes

  11. Marcus Morris 11
    22 July 2020 at 11:38 am

    Have been watching the PM's press conference. She is superb and such a contrast to the leader of the opposition. Collins couldn't wait to alert the media in contrast to the PM using tact and discretion. Extra-marital affairs involving MPs have gone on for years – remember David Lange – however , she has made the point that IL-G's specific responsibility for workplace safety was the paramount issue and his behaviour, which was tantamount to an abuse of power albeit that it had ceased some time ago, made his position untenable. He has not broken any law.

    For so called journalist Tova OBrien to claim in a piece today that both Collins and Jacinda let the country down over the Falloon affair is, frankly, ludicrous.

    • Dennis Frank 11.1
      22 July 2020 at 12:21 pm

      For so called journalist Tova OBrien to claim in a piece today that both Collins and Jacinda let the country down over the Falloon affair is, frankly, ludicrous.

      My reaction when I heard it too, and I note she has recycled the claim onto a website. There are several obvious wrongs with this! Firstly, interpreting the news isn't what a reporter is meant to do. They're meant to report what happens.

      Second, making moral judgments about politicians has become long-term custom (editorialising), so media owners tolerate editors doing that.

      Since her Newshub editor approved her text (and/or suggested she insert the judgment into the story, that editor's judgment is in question. Did that person run the issue by their producer?? If so, the third wrong is that person approving the inclusion.

      Since Jacinda and Judith have both provided satisfactory reasonable explanations for the apparent delay in each case, the fourth wrong is the failure of Newshub to own their irresponsible behaviour. They owe both leaders an apology!!

  12. Andre 12
    22 July 2020 at 11:57 am

    What is the best way for a political party to handle a sex scandal?

    Swiftly. With a big axe.

  13. observer 13
    22 July 2020 at 11:58 am

    Let's be absolutely clear what happened here.

    Collins knew that she had to get in first before Ardern acted, to score a "point" (in her own mind, but not necessarily in the minds of voters, something Collins still doesn't get).

    So she told the AM Show today. It was calculated and cynical. It IS Collins.

    Ardern would/will not handle things the same way, and thank goodness (or her) for that.

  14. mickysavage 14
    22 July 2020 at 12:02 pm

    Well that blew up.

    Parliament is a cess pit of scheming and rumour.

    If this is the new standard we are going to start to run out of MPs …

    • Andre 14.1
      22 July 2020 at 12:08 pm

      Is bonking staffers really that prevalent?

      • mickysavage 14.1.1
        22 July 2020 at 12:17 pm

        Staffers, reporters, each other …

        • Andre 14.1.1.1
          22 July 2020 at 12:27 pm

          Staffers are a problem because of the power imbalance. Reporters are a problem because of how that affects the reporting, but that's an issue for the reporter much more than the MP. Each other strikes me as not a problem when it's at a peer-to-peer level, with no power imbalance involved.

          I'm pretty sure I don't wanna know what else might be covered by that ellipsis surprise

          • Chris 14.1.1.1.1
            22 July 2020 at 1:02 pm

            Sure, power-imbalance can be an issue, but it's the cone of silence that's been broken here. And reporters have partners and families too. The rule is don't ever talk about it. If the "tip-off" has been in any way invited by Collins then a whole bunch of new issues emerge.

        • I Feel Love 14.1.1.2
          22 July 2020 at 2:54 pm

          There must be some nervous spouses of parliamentarians out there… has there ever been a study why they're so sex crazed there? Are other workplaces so involved with each other? I must work in a nunnery (or I'm just not invited to the parties).

          • RedBaronCV 14.1.1.2.1
            22 July 2020 at 3:07 pm

            It's the being away from home a lot overnight. Not such a biggie in the average workplace – your party invites are probably intact!

          • DB 14.1.1.2.2
            22 July 2020 at 8:54 pm

            I worked at MFAT for decades. There were plenty of Ambassadors and senior staff who thought Foreign Affairs was their job description …

        • In Vino 14.1.1.3
          22 July 2020 at 8:43 pm

          Pedant speaking – 'one another' seems more likely than 'each other.'
          ‘Each other’ conjures up amusing images.

  15. RedBaronCV 15
    22 July 2020 at 12:46 pm

    I believe that a news organisation doorstepped the Falloon parents yesterday. Could some senior media figure take those involved aside please and explain that we basically leave families alone in this country and why? This dates back for over 50 years to the Kirk Rowling government for a matter that was in the public domain then but which I would not expect to reiterate here.

    • Jilly Bee 15.1
      22 July 2020 at 2:58 pm

      I wouldn't be at all surprised if the same news organisation doorsteps the Lees-Galloway family home as well. The 'journalist' involved is really the pits and I'm about to contact the news organisation involved to let them know that after watching their news channel since it's inception I'm about to bail out.

  17. Gerald 17
    22 July 2020 at 5:42 pm

    I've just re-read "Dirty Politics" are National going down the same "double-up" track?

    [You have used too many different user names and e-mail addresses here. I have changed your user name to the most recently used one on 7 May 2020. Please stick with this combination of user name and e-mail address from now on, thanks – Incognito]

  18. Tricledrown 18
    22 July 2020 at 6:30 pm

    Throwing grenades about politicians private lives will be a a tit for tat tennis game there will be plenty of ammunition people will quickly overlook this as what has been going on for years.

    Its not in the same league as unsollicited sexual harrassment.

    But when in a glass house it pays not to throw stones.there could be a lot more resignations.

  19. SOB 19
    22 July 2020 at 8:07 pm

    John Key always stated he had a bottom draw full of allegations such as these.

    Why would anyone think Judith doesn't have the same.

    Not sure what the issue is anyway, consenting sex between adults is no crime.

    Unless of course the perpetrators have a moral conservative righteous viewpoint and so therefore become hypocrites.

    • SOB 19.1
      22 July 2020 at 8:10 pm

      Sorry you can remove that post was under a "false" name.

    • Muttonbird 19.2
      22 July 2020 at 10:34 pm

      Of course she does and this one was pulled out of that bottom draw because she was in serious trouble over the mental health excuse for Falloon.

      The Nats probably never intended to use this but Collins couldn't allow herself to be further questioned so out it came.

    • Danny 19.3
      23 July 2020 at 12:05 pm

      What worries me is the alarming judgement and punishment attitudes of many younger supposedly liberal people. Consensual sex is certainly no crime but it's being judged from the viewpoint that there is a power imbalance and the (male) party is somehow exploiting the other party without any evidence necessary or nuance allowed in the discussion. National know this and they know that all they need to do is throw out an allegation and watch Labour turn on each other.

  20. newsense 20
    22 July 2020 at 10:27 pm

    So what even is a Heather Du Plessis-Allan?

    • PaddyOT 20.1
      22 July 2020 at 11:08 pm

      I would ask a similar question. Does HDPA consider herself a journalist or a pollie now?

      She had talked in the past about her interest in entering political journalism and despising pollies.

      "Politics matters because the decisions politicians make "will affect you directly at some stage of your life". And then there's the drama of it, which seems harder to justify "in a news sense", but still matters, because the backstabbing and nastiness that goes on is "the powerplay of the people who make the decisions".

      She then was quoted after making a dig at Key , " So if, by way of example, Judith Collins was to backstab John Key and take his job from him, you know that the decisions she takes are going to be completely different from the decisions he takes. So people should be interested in the drama."

      However, then HDPA goes on to villify journalist line crossers saying, " she enjoys catching pollies out. Those guys are slick, man. They stage things. They make it seem there's conflict in the party when there isn't, in order to achieve an aim. They release information in order to distract you from something. That stuff is so reprehensible that calling them out on it is the rewarding part."

      So which/what is Heather Du Plessis-Allan?

      Stuff

      The real Heather du Plessis-Allan

      Adam Dudding Nov 29 2016

  21. karol121 21
    23 July 2020 at 4:12 pm

    Is this not a great thing for Ms Collins' image building?

    A ferocious hammer to slam down on Falloon. It's almost as if he was a "made man" for this particular scandal.

    National would surely have figured out months ago that their chances of any sort of win this September would be like spitting dried peas from a blow pipe across the Wellington harbor, and thinking that they would actually hit something.

    So what a great time for them to tactically withdraw in a sense, clean up house, and progressively replace a candidate or two, probably already known to have had some issues.

    She is a career orientated animal and she revels in her glory. I wonder which of the other National Party MP's she might have written in her little black remedy book to sort out prior to 2023.

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    Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    12 hours ago

  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
    A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    12 hours ago

  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
    Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    12 hours ago

  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    13 hours ago

  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
    Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    14 hours ago

  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
    While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    15 hours ago

  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
    In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    15 hours ago

  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    15 hours ago

  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    15 hours ago

  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    16 hours ago

  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    18 hours ago

  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    19 hours ago

  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    19 hours ago

  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    20 hours ago

  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    21 hours ago

  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    21 hours ago

  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    21 hours ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    23 hours ago

  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago

  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

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

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Smoke And Mirrors.
    You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • What is Mexico doing about climate change?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • State of humanity, 2024
    2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Govt’s Wellington tunnel vision aims to ease the way to the airport (but zealous promoters of cycl...
    Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • The case for cultural connectedness
    A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Useful context on public sector job cuts
    David Farrar writes –    The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated.   While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
    Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal
    Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • True Blue.
    True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?
    While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Feline Friends and Fragile Fauna The Complexities of Cats in New Zealand’s Conservation Efforts

    Cats, with their independent spirit and beguiling purrs, have captured the hearts of humans for millennia. In New Zealand, felines are no exception, boasting the highest national cat ownership rate globally [definition cat nz cat foundation]. An estimated 1.134 million pet cats grace Kiwi households, compared to 683,000 dogs ...

    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    5 days ago

  • Or is that just they want us to think?
    Nice guy, that Peter Williams. Amiable, a calm air of no-nonsense capability, a winning smile. Everything you look for in a TV presenter and newsreader.I used to see him sometimes when I went to TVNZ to be a talking head or a panellist and we would yarn. Nice guy, that ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Did global warming stop in 1998?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Did global warming stop in ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Arguing over a moot point.
    I have been following recent debates in the corporate and social media about whether it is a good idea for NZ to join what is known as “AUKUS Pillar Two.” AUKUS is the Australian-UK-US nuclear submarine building agreement in which … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago

  • No Longer Trusted: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    Turning Point: “What has turned me away from the mainstream news media is the very strong message that its been sending out for the last few years.” “And what message might that be?” “That the people who own it, the people who run it, and the people who provide its content, really don’t ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Mortgage rates at 10% anyone?
    No – nothing about that in PM Luxon’s nine-point plan to improve the lives of New Zealanders. But beyond our shores Jamie Dimon, the long-serving head of global bank J.P. Morgan Chase, reckons that the chances of a goldilocks soft landing for the economy are “a lot lower” than the ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    6 days ago

  • Sad tales from the left
    Michael Bassett writes –  Have you noticed the odd way in which the media are handling the government’s crackdown on surplus employees in the Public Service? Very few reporters mention the crazy way in which State Service numbers rocketed ahead by more than 16,000 during Labour’s six years, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • In Whose Best Interests?
    On The Spot: The question Q+A host, Jack Tame, put to the Workplace & Safety Minister, Act’s Brooke van Velden, was disarmingly simple: “Are income tax cuts right now in the best interests of lowering inflation?”JACK TAME has tested another MP on his Sunday morning current affairs show, Q+A. Minister for Workplace ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Don’t Question, Don’t Complain.
    It has to start somewhereIt has to start sometimeWhat better place than here?What better time than now?So it turns out that I owe you all an apology.It seems that all of the terrible things this government is doing, impacting the lives of many, aren’t necessarily ‘bad’ per se. Those things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Auckland faces 25% water inflation shock
    Three Waters became a focus of anti-Government protests under Labour, but its dumping by the new Government hasn’t solved councils’ funding problems and will eventually hit the back pockets of everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 8:06 am today are:The Government ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Small accomplishments and large ironies
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume VII
    In order to catch up to the actual progress of the D&D campaign, I present you with another couple of sessions. These were actually held back to back, on a Monday and Tuesday evening. Session XV Alas, Goatslayer had another lycanthropic transformation… though this time, he ran off into the ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Accelerating the Growth Rate?
    There is a constant theme from the economic commentariat that New Zealand needs to lift its economic growth rate, coupled with policies which they are certain will attain that objective. Their prescriptions are usually characterised by two features. First, they tend to be in their advocate’s self-interest. Second, they are ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago

  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago

  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
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