What is This We Feel?

Written By: - Date published: 6:58 am, September 15th, 2022 - 52 comments
Categories: Deep stuff, International, uk politics - Tags:

It will be the last time we say goodbye to her. More than her.

We say goodbye to the royalty of love. Of love married and dutiful for over 60 years. Of children who were disappointments and did their own damage, as in many respects we all do, and we can but bury our own disappointment with her. But like most mothers, whether we disappoint or not, she showed nothing but care and calm. Queen Elizabeth through piety and devotion turned her love into that of a quiet, beneficent god. We have now few marriages, fewer that last, and indeed are defined less by marriage than by Hinge, Bumble, Cupid and Grindr. That’s how far we are now. Queen Elizabeth contained for us ideals about love and certainty and emotional resilience that we perhaps have never known. That era is dead now and we are the poorer. We can only be comforted by endless re-runs of Bridgerton, Downton Abbey and The Crown for just a sweet sighing simulacra of such certainty.

If the burial of every mother were more like this, the world would stand upright.

We say goodbye to a last living link to World War 2; the rage of the twentieth century and our active organised resistance to fascism. She represented our common fight in which everyone did service in their own way. Every ANZAC Day now stands a little emptier, its grief a measured distance further with her gone.

We say goodbye to a scale of ceremony that we used to know and love. We are unlikely to see its kind again. New Zealand used to do ceremony with the visit of the Earl Mountbatten, of the QE2 led by the Naval Reserve Otago up Otago Harbour, the royal tours we would pack the streets in serried ranks for a glimpse in our hundred thousand. Arches were carved in stone, foundations laid, streets and towns and all manner of things brought to a higher standard just so she could pass by. All the jewels we will see in the next days, sceptres, plumed hats and gold embroidered jackets will soon be put away. Each jewel a history, every silver rod a purpose. This monarchy now shrinks into something less regal. In millennia ahead when an archaeologist opens England’s entombed treasures, they will struggle to recover this great high dam of meaning which is all contained in the one moment we have now.

We say goodbye to England. Most of us come from the UK, nearly all Maori have UK family affiliations. It’s being waved goodbye. Covid accelerated our emotional removal from this Old World. Europe says goodbye to the UK itself. This is the only moment we have to recapture and revive history of this kind, then box it with a ribbon of grief, and start to learn our own in earnest. Whatever bind together the Queen sustained, it too is being buried. Finally the editions of Town and Country and Tatler on the stands contain no signals of desire, only pictorials as unnamably odd and cold as sets out of The Remains of the Day.

We say goodbye to  honour, duty, and altruistic service when we say goodbye to this Queen. These are stoic virtues often required of mothers, of military officers, and of public servants. The Queen was of a time where the Queen was able to remain elevated as a beneficent conferral of blessing upon a binding social contract between state and citizen defined precisely by honour, duty and altruistic service. Will ever such nobility of service remain? Yes, in birthday honours, thankfully, and in volunteer service otherwise unrecognised by the million. But no such social contract remains now. Few mothers can afford such stoicism and duty now. Military service is just another career and people move as they do elsewhere. Public sector life is frankly chaotic and unstable and near identical to commercial life. Deserving or otherwise, the Queen was a statue devoted to the worship of the noble and the good. It’s gone.

So on that day of remembrance as they lower her down, bury deep inside yourself all that same nobility, stoicism, and endurance.

Wonder at our loss.

52 comments on “What is This We Feel? ”

  1. Hanswurst 1

    As a millenial, I feel I don't speak, or even really recognise, the language of this article.

    • Jenny are we there yet 1.1

      Translation:

      'On with their heads'!'

    • Siobhan 1.2

      You don't need to be a millennial to not understand this language. As a GenXer I only very vaguely recognize it…mainly from sitting next to drunk Uncles with issues at family get togethers.

    • Grey Area 1.3

      Nothing about being a millennial. I'm a baby boomer and he/she lost me almost immediately.

    • Muttonbird 2.1

      I watched to about half way and that waster said absolutely nothing. Rambled on about Trump at the races. Gave up.

      His delivery/performance was school student level and most 15 year olds I know would be embarrassed by it.

      I assume captured people actually pay to listen to that shit. Incredible.

      • swordfish 2.1.1

        .

        By an incredible coincidence, you would appear to be a 15 year old yourself … and a particularly petty, sneering & resentful one at that. Raging hormones, I guess.

        Let me anticipate your reply … Urghhh, I never asked to be born !You're not the boss of me ! … Ohhh Whateveeer ! Speak to the hand coz the face ain't listening !

        • Hanswurst 2.1.1.1

          Ironically, you seem to be the first person on this thread to exhibit the traits you criticise with such exaggerated zeal.

          • RedLogix 2.1.1.1.1

            Given that your first comment on this thread was an open admission that you didn't understand the OP – I'm not sure why you think you have anything useful to add here.

            • Hanswurst 2.1.1.1.1.1

              Given that you misunderstood my first comment, I wonder what use there is in yours.

              • RedLogix

                Go back over the three comments you have made on this post and then compare to contributions from say, Lynn, Stuart, Sanctuary, roblogic or AB.

                Or you might even engage with the point JP makes around the separation of powers and why unconstrained republican presidency is prone to degenerating into despotism.

                • Hanswurst

                  No. Can't be bothered, frankly. My own view comes closest to that of Lprent, in that I have no particular interest in replacing the monarchy, and think that the current constitutional arrangement works perfectly well, but find the attribution of all sorts of personal or historical ideals to the late queen rather baffling; having said that, I think my (fairly narrow) point was perfectly clear without needing an essay, even if it injures your sense of pride in the monarchy.

    • adam 2.2

      Your now spruiking for a con artist – classy redlogix classy.

      You want lobster with that??!?

      • Ad 2.2.1

        "It is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and end up as superstitions." That's Huxley, and I'm pretty sure Jordan Petersen would see where his kind of dialogue is going.

  2. kejo 3

    Hanswurst. Great comment from a young person. That is because no one under the age of about 50 remembers how government [mostly] took its responsibility to those governed more seriously. How socialism was mixed successfully with the buisness community. and people lived successfully without great wealth. All swept away and buried under the neoliberal 'reforms' of Rodger Douglas and other pirates. cheers Keith

    • Hanswurst 3.1

      No, it's more because I don't really see how the late Queen has much of relevance to do with that.

      • kejo 3.1.1

        Im not a great monarchist but the Queen had far more relevance before that political coup since called neoliberalism. Demonstrated by the huge crowds that attended her public appearances. As Jordan Peterson says, 70 years without a scandal [unlike her family] is a remarkable achievement. Not to have experienced it or understand it is not your fault. Times have moved on, but some of the morality that the queen [at least outwardly] displayed would be welcome amongst people with power these days. That relevance is one of the things that was swept away in the modern pursuit of profit

        • Andy 3.1.1.1

          @kejo agreed, and I would also add the modern pursuit of narcissism, as exemplified by Meghan

        • lprent 3.1.1.2

          I was born in 1959 in Auckland to joint families who’d been here since at least the 1860s. For me whilst growing up the monarchy had very little relevance. Because I went to school next to Eden park (Edendale primary and Balmoral intermediate), we'd get dragged off to wave flags. Even as a kid that was an imposition. I'd have preferred bull-rush.

          By secondary school, and outside of my general obsession with history, I had zero interest in the monarchy, commonwealth, and empire. That was so 19th century. I had the same attitudes as Hanswurst expressed in #1. I was living in the 20th century.

          This post just reminds me of my grandparents and parents generations. They were born either in the colonial era or the space between world wars. They'd been indoctrinated into empire. Even when I was a kid that showed and felt kind of odd.

          That said, the monarchy as legal construct is useful in NZ. That I realised after reading some law at university. Just so long as the actual monarchy and their main country of residence stays away from real power, it is a legal fiction that is immensely useful to us.

          Incidentally this Politik article gives a better perspective on the monarchy looking forward. It is paywalled, but I think that you can read it as a taster.

          • Ad 3.1.1.2.1

            I am not surprised by the reaction to the deliberate language I deployed.

            But I would encourage you to reflect on your unwitting representation of those same virtues I outline.

            You are a Labour supporter and have been for multiple decades. There's perhaps now no more than a few hundred of those. Almost untranslatable loyalty.

            You served in the military voluntarily. From what I can see you have been proud of that service. Few younger than you would have any understanding of it.

            You set up a website devoted to left-leaning political engagement and have dedicated several decades to that, voluntarily. Not only is sustained political engagement rare, decade-long service to a volunteer and independent and non-commercial political engagement is particularly rare.

            You have a quiet pride in your education and its achievements. Almost stoic in your determination to improve.

            You engage in work which is quite deliberately and over multiple decades low-carbon, low-travel, low-mass and high value. That too is a specific kind of dedication that has been poorly supported in this country but for which you have been quite resolute.

            You may or may not reign over all you survey, and you may well abhor the archaic language I used, but you share many of the Queen's royal attributes.

            • RedLogix 3.1.1.2.1.1

              And I recognised much of this in Lynn right from the beginning – not eloquently expressed as you have – but in dim outline if nothing else. That some here express bafflement at these values of loyalty and honour is perhaps not surprising – but disturbing to see it in the open all the same.

              • Incognito

                It’s too easy to conflate people and positions and people do it all the time. Famous (popular) actors know this too well and they and/or their managers avoid certain roles to prevent damage to ‘the brand’, which is why many are type-cast, which is a variation of stereo-typing.

                People who rail against Elizabeth really rail against the symbol of a monarch and against the institution of a monarchy. In their bias (and sometimes hatred) they completely overlook the person and their personal qualities & values. This ‘pop’ analysis can easily be extended to politicians and political parties wink

                • RedLogix

                  Yes – that is a good way to look at it. Separation of institutional power and personal power is a subtle but vital point.

                  In the video I linked to above JP speaks to how Trump was the exact opposite – his institutional role and personal fame becoming inextricably entangled – which is an exceedingly dangerous state to fall into. Xi and Putin being two very proximate and threatening examples.

                  • Incognito

                    Yes, I was talking about how others perceive (or rather, miss) the person behind the professional persona (mask), but you made the very salient point which is when one perceives oneself in that way and loses oneself to feelings of grandeur or similar. This often manifests in bullying behaviour and/or worse …

                    • RedLogix

                      Agreed – and while deeply psychological these themes have critical relevance to our political institutions yes

                • Hanswurst

                  I think it cuts both ways. People who conflate the late queen with values of service, self-sacrifice and dedication seem to ascribe some mystical significance to her, without explaining how it is any different to other instances where those values can be observed, and to lump in a whole lot of irrelevant ritual and uniform-shining that really has nothing to do with such values at all. She’s not a shining symbol of the era of chivalry, she’s a woman who did a job for seventy years. Good on her, but let’s not get carried away.

        • Anne 3.1.1.3

          Times have moved on, but some of the morality that the queen [at least outwardly] displayed would be welcome amongst people with power these days. That relevance is one of the things that was swept away in the modern pursuit of profit.

          Yes. It has been said that some of the more comical characters she met during her reign were a chance for her to display her considerable mimicry talents in the privacy of her home but it was never in malice. I admired her, and for the reasons given by kejo I believe we will be the poorer now she has passed.

      • roblogic 3.1.2

        As part of the Rogernomics revolution, our leaders rejected much of our cultural legacy, and destroyed the social contract established by decades of hard fought union agreements, and backbreaking labour to establish a 20th Century nation, with all of the things we take for granted (power, roads, health, education…).

        It was a time of rejecting the past and selective amnesia, because the legacy of Muldoon had been so traumatic for NZ. So we were suckered into a neoliberal fantasy of paper wealth, and embracing open slather capitalism and throwing numerous Kiwi workers on the scrap heap

        We became enamoured by corporate marketing and slick bankers selling us a dream of avarice and consumer goods – a cultural turn away from building our nation, our communities, and looking out for each other. We pivoted away from stodgy British oriented bureaucracy and big government, and turned towards nimble American style capitalism

        And now the Kardashians loom larger in the Millennial mind than the historical import of the Monarchy.

      • Stuart Munro 3.1.3

        If you read Montesquieu or de Tocqueville, monarchists both, they argue that monarchies are driven by honour, which is meted out largely by the sovereign. Thus a prime minister in principle strives to serve their people well in hope of being recognized and honoured.

        I had an interesting conversation with an Indian prof. about British colonialism. He said that though no-one wants them back, they achieved a great deal, lots of public works and institutions, and the best of them was the uncorrupted civil service. But since they left, the civil service is no longer clean. India of course had no monarchy any more.

        Mind, honour doesn't get you far when there's a Murdoched press, that destroys reputations for shits and giggles.

  3. As a child of the 1970s, WW2 was in close memory, only ending 25 years before I was born. As Dave Dobbyn sang, the Empire was fading, but the cultural legacy was strong, and nobody embodied these values more than Queen Elizabeth.

    It is instructive to focus on the positives of her reign, which were many. When British culture was ascendant, spreading its trade and language and Pax Britannia around the world, there was a cultural confidence and vision and a sense of higher purpose which is lacking today.

    Do we even believe in nationbuilding, in family, faith or tradition any more? There is a reason these things succeeded for so long.

    https://twitter.com/GKCdaily/status/1570161868978913281?s=20&t=nbaCbC45etrcR6Wl71sdmw

  4. AB 5

    I have been vaguely sad at times since the Queen died. But I know it is not about her, or the imagined loss of any values of stoicism and faith she might have displayed. Those values are never lost – they are part of the human organism and they recede or stand out in different places and times.

    I was sad for my parents generation, all gone now, who did care about the Queen. It was that generation who took me as a 6 year old in 1963 to sit in the long summer grass above McLeod's Bay on the Whangarei Harbour, watching Britannia come in to anchor overnight on the way to or from Waitangi. A couple of Harbour Board tugboats doing the work. And in the end such sadness is mostly about the growing awareness of one's own mortality.

    I don't think we are witnessing history – more a moment that is entirely out of history. When this fades the world will just resume where it left off. The event will have had minimal effect. Indeed, so much of the ceremony we see on the telly is an affirmation that nothing will change, the queen dies the king takes over. For a few weeks people will have expressed something that they located in this woman, but does not wholly originate from her.

  5. Sanctuary 6

    The Queen's casket went past the statue of Winston Churchill, who was born in 1874 and was her first prime minister. Her first big trip as heir apparent was to South Africa aboard a British battleship. Nothing more uderlines how archaic the country she was born into and was crowned to rule in 1952 now is as we approach the second quarter of the 21st century than these two facts.

    When she was in South Africa she declared:

    "…before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong…"

    She has received lavish praise for this speech, on which she made good. But at the same time in South Africa Malan and Verwoerd were openly planning a racist state about which she commented not a jot. The great imperial family she was thinking of was, and always has been, distinctly white as a project. Just ask Meagan. That alone flaws her legacy badly.

    During her long, long reign no reforms or constitutional changes to the reality that the tritles and pomp of the British monarchy are now as hollow as the Imperial titles of the last Byzantine emperors were ever seriously suggested. Now the monarchy has become trapped within it's stale and suffocating protocols and arcane, increasingly ridiculous rituals and this carapace of morbidity has infected the entire, increasingly démodé, British establishment. The UK is a country of moribund instutions desperately in need of reform from top to bottom. It is barely a democracy anymore, with a yellow press ensuring 12 years of Tory rule, a PM appointed by the votes of .02% of the British public and a head of state selected when a 96 year old woman from a distant past age died and was succeeded by a hereditary geriatric 73 year old who can't deal with the stress of a leaky fountain pen.

    The Queen's big problem is she died at least 15 years past her use by date. The reaction to her death is strangely muted IMHO. A 96 year old dying is natural and to be expected. We all knew it was coming, and it came two decades too late for her distant subjects to care much anymore. The spectacle of hereditary gerentocracy get’s no ones pulse racing.

    If the monarchy wishes to survive, it needs at very least to recognise that in 2022 people with the best healthcare money can buy and pampered lives can easily live to a very great age. A the very minimum, the monarchy needs to adopt age related abdication as the rule – retire at 80, that is ancient enough for God's sake – and let's have kings and Queens who are least middle aged and a bit more aware of the century they are living in.

  6. barry 7

    "If the burial of every mother were more like this, the world would stand upright." Instead the world would grind to a halt. Millions of mothers die worldwide every day. We can't have millions queued up to visit each of them.

    I don't have anything against her personally, but I loathe everything she ever stood for. She was the embodiment of privilege. She is praised for "service" but I never saw pictures of her cleaning up rubbish or handing out food at a soup kitchen.

    It is all a con job. By pandering to this nonsense about how she is a saint, we don't stop her and her likes from picking our pockets. Her wealth and the pageantry that allows it is built on misery all over the former empire.

    The sooner the monarchy and peerage are consigned to history (with records of all the brutality associated with it) the better.

    • pat 7.1

      Harsh call…she spent seventy years in the public eye (how many could sustain that?)..she was working 2 days before her death at 96…again how many could say that?

      As an individual she was exceptional, as an exemplar of a system?…she was probably as good as it gets….the difference between a flawed system functioning or not.

      Give her her due.

  7. Muttonbird 8

    What is This We Feel?

    Nausea, after reading that sentimental Trifle.

  8. Visubversa 9

    My first political activity was to refuse to stand for "God Save the Queen" at the movies. It was our "National Anthem" at the time and was played before the movies started. You were expected to stand. From about 16 years of age, I refused to do it.

  9. swordfish 10

    .

    She stood out in such sharp relief because the background of our culture and society has become so clearly marked by the opposite qualities. Exhibitionism. Emotional incontinence. The elevation of outward appearances and tacky self-promotion over substance, character and service. Flakiness, fragility and self-pity. We have become a society of precious, whining narcissists talking at and past each other, all whilst congratulating ourselves on our “openness” and being so pleased at how “modern” we are …

    It seems to me to be more than a coincidence that this cultural shift, which was so sharply symbolised by the reactions to the death of Diana, came at a time of accelerating globalisation and the consolidation of an intensified, deregulated form of capitalism. The guiding principle of that new economic settlement was that anything and anyone can be commodified, ranging from individuals’ appearance and sexuality to a country’s history and aesthetics: think of “cool Britannia” and the emergence of Britain as a sort of marketing brand in the eyes of Blair and his successors. Emotional “openness”, self-obsession and vanity, perpetual and self-conscious public assertions of one’s fragility, vulnerability and need for the appropriate forms of therapy in response, the temper tantrums and grievances of self-righteous progressive identity politics: all are new cultural fissures that can be mined for profit.

    'Capel Lofft' argues the Queen embodied counter-cultural values.

    The Queen contra modernity | Capel Lofft | The Critic Magazine

    • Hanswurst 10.1

      Sounds more like an argument that she embodied a stiff upper lip. All the stuff about the commodification of all aspects of life, whether public or private, I can easily subscribe to. I'm still of the opinion that it has bugger all of relevance to do with the late queen.

    • Ad 10.2

      Yes the Queen's virtues are not only old Stoic virtues but they are also of a life that refuses to be exposed: she never not even once gave an interview.

      There is a loyalty to oneself in inscrutibility. Hard not to respect that degree of self protection in her position over 7 decades.

    • roblogic 10.3

      Agree, the Queen represents a counter to the postmodernist whinging with its urge to deconstruct all hierarchies and dismantle narratives of power. But the alternative offered is, a new power hierarchy with the mandarins of wokeness at the top.

    • SPC 10.4

      The worthy close to God and the unwashed masses of democracy.

      Those of substance/high office and the common folk.

      The values of an age when only those of moral probity/unimpugned reputation could aspire to, or remain in, public office (pre Trump). This spoke of restraint and distant reserve.

      The people as loyal subjects at allowed crowd events but not heard otherwise.

      Of course the practice of democracy by organised political parties eventually results in challenge to establishment and then change.

      And then onto the idea that the people are sovereign and they can have a voice/media presence.

      Sacrilege sacre blue to those fearful of a new dawn

  10. Powerman 11

    A fabulously rich idle family composed of Greek, German and a smattering of English genes and with no connection to the real world. Still, they keep the women's magazines in business and are a diversion to the real world. They have a history of reprehensible behaviour–Andrew is a good example and also changed their name during wars.

  11. SPC 12

    Short version. There was the imperial Victorian monarchy of the 19th C and then there was the Elizabethan transformation to the Commonwealth monarchy of the 20th C (when everyone could vote). It's more likely William, rather than Charles (very much of the former century) and William will determine what a 21st C monarchy will look like – in terms of leadership values and role in/of public service.

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
    5 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
    6 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
    8 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
    10 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
    10 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
    12 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
    13 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
    13 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
    13 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
    14 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
    15 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    6 days ago
  • 2024 Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships announced
    ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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 2024-03-28T10:05:41+00:00