What to do about poverty (and a suggestion to the media)

Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, January 16th, 2016 - 43 comments
Categories: class war, journalism, poverty - Tags: , , , , ,

An excellent piece on poverty by Lizzie Marvelly in The Herald this morning:

The only debate is what to do about child poverty

Kiwi children are suffering right now. Believe it.
…
In a country where an unacceptable number of children live below the much-debated poverty line, we are becoming accustomed to hearing the lives of Kiwi kids and their families being thrown around as political hot potatoes.

While we can argue about poverty, its definition, origins, and how it is conceptualised until we’re blue in the face, such meaningless politicking does nothing to show people the reality of poverty. It certainly does nothing to feed the thousands of children who are going hungry.
…
Blaming parents living in poverty does absolutely nothing to put food into the tummies of hungry kids.

The idea that people living in poverty are somehow to blame for their fate is attractive if one wants to absolve oneself from any sense of responsibility, but it is a notion that I find deeply sad. When did we become so hardened and self-centred that we began to believe that those poorer than us deserve their suffering? When did we become so divorced from our own communities that we stopped caring about the families around us?
…
There are so many things we could do to make the lives of Kiwi kids better: feeding kids in school, bringing back a means-tested child benefit like the one scrapped in the “mother of all budgets”, requiring a warrant of fitness for rental properties to prevent children growing up in cold, damp, leaky houses, and simply helping out in our neighbourhoods.

The first step, however, is for us to look out into our communities and really see other people, to realise that even in the most privileged areas, poverty is just five minutes down the road. It’s not a conspiracy. It’s real.

Thank you Lizzie Marvelly. The headline to that piece poses a question – what to do about child poverty? In fact we already know the answer, and the answer is simple:

Giving cash to the poor is the best way to fix poverty

“Unconditional Cash Transfers work better than almost anyone would have expected. They dent the stereotype of poor people as inherently feckless and ignorant”.

This is the conclusion reached by The Economist in a feature on giving cash to the poor. It neatly summarises the evidence regarding what works best to improve the lives of the poor and strikes at the heart of the prejudices we hold about those in poverty.
…
The only time in recent years New Zealand reduced child poverty was when we gave cash to some poor via Working for Families. The fact is that everyone would be better off if we just gave poor parents the money. …

Giving poor people money alleviates poverty. Amazing! So let’s raise taxes on the rich and get on with it.

Footnote (I’m an academic, I love footnotes!) on a suggestion to the media. Almost everything you publish is a piece in isolation. There is a better way.

Take The Herald for example. You publish Marvelly’s piece on poverty today, just a week after (re)publishing Whyte’s excerable nonsense. If you had any kind of overview / foundation of established fact / ongoing context on the topic of poverty you wouldn’t be publishing such wildly inconsistent pieces (the Whyte article would have been rejected as the nonsense that it was).

Take climate change as another example, no responsible media should be publishing denier nonsense these days.

Now you (the responsible media) might say that you’re offering a range of opinions. But when some opinions are clearly and provably nonsense that excuse is just an abdication of responsibility. It’s laziness, clickbait, and harmful.

I guess I’m asking for context and sanity checking in the media. Fact-based narrative instead of isolated and inconsistent snippets. Harder work, but much better for everyone.

43 comments on “What to do about poverty (and a suggestion to the media) ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. weka 1
    16 January 2016 at 12:11 pm

    Good punchy post r0b.

    Re the footnote, does this mean the standard will no longer be publishing comments that are AGW denialist or poverty denialist? I hope so (although I appreciate the work involved may not make that possible).

  2. Wayne 2
    16 January 2016 at 12:22 pm

    This item by Anthony Robins seems more like a request for Herald censorship than having a contest of ideas. It seems that you would prefer that arguments and positions you don’t like not to be published.

    On climate change, while i accept that it is happening and is manmade, there does seems to be a genuine scientific debate about the rate of change. Surely a legitimate matter for the media to report.

    Whyte’s piece was clearly an headed as an opinion piece, and not from a regular Herald columnist. His basic idea, on the best way to measure poverty, is clearly not nonsense. There is a genuine debate about whether poverty should be measured on whether a child is deprived of things that we see as essential in New Zealand, or whether a percentage of average incomes will in essence give the same answer.

    If you disagree with his theme so strongly, submit your own item to the Herald.

    More broadly modern media in all its forms allows any views to be aired. Or should these debates be confined to new Media, and that old media be tightly regulated. Just writing that sentence shows the impossibility of that. I for instance subscribe to The Spectator. There would not be one view expressed in The Spectator that you would agree with.

    So what? That is what free speech means.

    • Paul 2.1
      16 January 2016 at 12:34 pm

      You wouldn’t expect to see an article in the Herald saying the Earth was flat.
      Similarly climate change.
      There is a scientific consensus on both.

    • Bill 2.2
      16 January 2016 at 12:36 pm

      More broadly modern media in all its forms allows any views to be aired.

      Sure Wayne. Apart from a list of tightly typed exceptions as long as one of those ‘twice as long’ toilet rolls, we’ve generally had the freedom to say and broadcast whatever we want. But the speaker on Hyde Corner and the Fleet Street editor (to use old reference points) don’t have quite the same broadcasting power and penetration into ‘the market’ of ideas.

    • weka 2.3
      16 January 2016 at 12:38 pm

      There is a genuine debate about whether poverty should be measured on whether a child is deprived of things that we see as essential in New Zealand, or whether a percentage of average incomes will in essence give the same answer.

      Really? Can you link to some examples? Because what I see more often is people debating how to measure child poverty as a way of not taking action on child poverty. They’re not putting up proposals on how to alleviate poverty for the people that are already deprived, they’re just taking up space and debate time with carefully worded distractions that are underneath good old fashioned denial.

      btw, framing r0b’s post as being about his personal likes and dislikes is both patronising and missing the point. There comes a point where there is no need to debate eg on whether Climate Change is real. Worse, allowing equal space and time to denialists actively prevents us from taking the urgent actions needed to attend to the crisis. Kind of like being in WW2 Britain and arguing over whether the Germans are really that bad. It’s idiotic. I’ll happily take the risk of undermining theoretical concerns over freedom of expression if it means we actually do something about AGW and child poverty.

    • Stever 2.4
      16 January 2016 at 1:01 pm

      Whataboutery, Wayne.

      Back to the topic…what do you suggest we do about poverty?

      • Manuka AOR 2.4.1
        16 January 2016 at 1:59 pm

        “what do you suggest we do about poverty?”

        ..and about homelessness in NZ (preferably before winter arrives): http://www.3news.co.nz/opinion/opinion-homelessness-in-new-zealand-2015070118#axzz3xMeTWuia

      • Stuart Munro 2.4.2
        16 January 2016 at 11:09 pm

        What does National do about anything?

        Pretend it doesn’t exist.

        The best of them are pathetic wastes of space.

        • Wayne 2.4.2.1
          17 January 2016 at 7:23 am

          Stuart
          You seem to have forgotten that benefits for families with children are increasing $25 per week. Now of course there can be an argument that this is not enough. But given it was the first increase in benefits above the cost of living since 1991, it can hardly be said to be nothing.

          I presume Labour will promise, as its major initiative, to build many more state houses so that most families dependent on benefits and also those on low incomes will have access to a state house. Say an increase in the Housing NZ stock from around 60,000 houses to say 100,000.

          • Kay 2.4.2.1.1
            17 January 2016 at 9:04 am

            Wayne
            Remind us again exactly how many of those families will even get the full $25, and how many will find them selves worse off after all the rebate penalties?

            Oh that’s right, reality doesn’t fit your agenda does it.

            • Descendant Of Sssmith 2.4.2.1.1.1
              17 January 2016 at 9:58 am

              According to the MSD data tables here:

              https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/

              there are 287,000 people on benefit and 63,560 getting Special Benefit or Temporary Additional Support.

              So about 22% of people get the additional assistance – or 78% don’t.

              Now it’s hard to know how many sole parents there are. The figures show 67,887 on sole parent benefit but there are plenty of others on Job Seeker (remember those with children over 14 are on this benefit now as well I think are those who have another child while on benefit).

              What this data strongly shows is the by far the majority of sole parents will get the $25.00 per week without any impact on TAS/SPB simply because they don’t get the payments.

              I’m no friend of National or Labour in their treatment of those on benefit – but I’m no fun of excessive scare-mongering either.

              The work my family does in various parts of the disability sector often means having to spend otherwise valuable time cleaning up after this scaremongering – and recently this has included clarity around this aspect.

              Things like you have to spend all your money to get a benefit, you can stay three nights, you can’t get a benefit if you don’t have an address are other banes of community myth as well.

              It’s not hard to get this data and to try and be factual yourself. MSD could do much better at explaining as well.

              If someone has time to look at it more closely that might be useful. I pointed out some months ago that from my memory of the work I did years ago on Special Benefit that TAS might or might not be affected based on the maximums that could be paid. That’s where it gets more complicated and really would need some actual numbers.

              Even if more sole parents get TAS though than the average of 22% across the whole benefit population it’s not I imagine anywhere near 50%.

              It seems in the absence of any better data to think that most people will get the full $25.00.

          • Descendant Of Sssmith 2.4.2.1.2
            17 January 2016 at 9:08 am

            What makes you think Labour believe in State Housing – or the 8 hour working day, 40 hour working week, universality of family support, reversing tax cuts, state ownership of infrastructure, the right to strike, a decent minimum wage or anything that would move things substantially to the left.

            Yeah I know that’s you point but it’s still hilarious that National are increasing some benefits while Labour – even now – still are not.

            Remember Helen Clark’s era put the $20-00 per week back onto NZS in a cynical vote catching move.

            It was cheaper to put it back on benefits – there was far fewer people on benefit than NZS then – and it’s even more the case now, and NZS was already significantly higher than benefit rates.

            If Labour wanted a decent policy I would suggest removing the age discrimination (that was supposed to be removed by the year 2000 but government gave themselves extensions/exemptions) and make all benefits the same rate as the equivalent NZS rates.

            • Wayne 2.4.2.1.2.1
              17 January 2016 at 9:41 am

              Descendant of Smith,

              I put in the additional material about Labour and State housing because I believe that is what they will promise at the next election. It would be consistent with all their recent statements on inequality and poverty.

              In fact I think National should also commit to more State housing, say an increase in the stock of 5,000 houses per year. That would be a good counterpart to the upcoming increase of $25 in the benefit, which I understand virtually every benefit dependent family with children will get.

              As for increasing all benefits to the NZS level, that has got to be a big cost, and would pretty much mean no difference between working for low pay and being on a benefit. In my view that is not a good message to send. National firmly believes that there should be a difference, and I have understood, based on what they have done in government, Labour to also believes there should be a gap between the two. But not the Greens.

              Such a policy would really lead to a debate on whether a universal basic income, as promoted by Gareth Morgan among others, would be a better approach. I suspect that will be a debate only for the Left, since I cannot imagine National (or NZF for that matter) would subscribe to such a policy.

              One of the arguments for a UBI is that it will allow struggling young artists to explore their creativity, without having to worry about getting a job. That proposition alone would probably kill the idea for most people on the right.

              • One Anonymous Bloke …
                17 January 2016 at 9:54 am

                So why don’t you push it to everyone you meet, Dr. Mapp: After all, the objective is to kill the idea rather than assessing it on its merits.

                Can you explain a bit about how the Law Commission regards conflicts of interest when it comes to preconceived positions?

              • Descendant Of Sssmith …
                17 January 2016 at 10:17 am

                Minimum wage is $590.00 per week, single NZS rate living alone is $421.76.

                I’d happily take a pay increase of $170.00 per week any day.

                Also paying the 287,00 people on benefit more is a vastly different proposition from paying all working age people (3,638,000 of them) a UBI.

                If a single person on NZS needs that much money to live how is it cheaper for a single 40 year old to live?

                Besides the minimum wage is too low anyway. The good news of course is that if you increased benefits to NZS rates their would be more money circulating in local economies and hence more money to pay higher wages.

              • Descendant Of Sssmith …
                17 January 2016 at 10:21 am

                “In fact I think National should also commit to more State housing, say an increase in the stock of 5,000 houses per year. ”

                Cool I look forward to your public condemnation of the reducing state housing stock by National and maybe even the pillaging of the rental income to make the books look better instead of being used to build more stock and upgrade and maintain existing stock.

          • Stuart Munro 2.4.2.1.3
            17 January 2016 at 1:35 pm

            Oh really? But that’s some time in the future Wayne, and judging by your colleagues’ performance it will never amount to anything.

            It’s just another castle in Spain like the $3 Billion a year in 2030.

            I remember a promise of 170 000 jobs, and surpluses – but all I see is debt poverty misery and stagnation. And lies Wayne. The kind of lies an alcoholic who drank the rent money tells.

          • Korero Pono 2.4.2.1.4
            17 January 2016 at 5:28 pm

            The $25 you claim is absolute nonsense…when those who need the extra cash the most realise that the TAS assistance they currently receive will reduce by exactly the same amount. Furthermore it was National who reduced benefits significantly (as much as $50 per week for some families), the $25 does not make up for that disaster.

            Labour may well promise to build houses (god someone has to do it), meanwhile National will sit in a back room somewhere deciding how they can sell them off. Moreover, the spin is already starting about the ‘types’ of families who will benefit if Labour do decide to build…is that designed to make those who may otherwise vote National feel a little jealous?

    • Manuka AOR 2.5
      16 January 2016 at 2:34 pm

      “That is what free speech means.”

      Just ask John Campbell, eh.

    • Anne 2.6
      16 January 2016 at 7:14 pm

      More broadly modern media in all its forms allows any views to be aired.

      All views are allowed to be aired? Fine on the face of it. Most reasonable people will go along with that.

      But what if some of those views being aired are dangerously wrong and based on ignorance and stupidity? What if such views are promulgated by a minority of ideologically driven crazies – eg. the American Tea Party? Should they be given the same amount of attention and media integrity as a conclusion based on a majority of scientific and/or knowledgeable evidence? No, they should not.

      Yet that is exactly what has happened over Global Warming/ Climate Change. For way too long the “Flat Earthers” were given equal attention as the 97% of scientists who have been trying to warn the world for decades about the catastrophic consequences of doing nothing about man-made climate change. As a result of that stupidity we are decades behind taking sufficient positive measures to combat the problem. Many scientists believe it’s now too late so… who to blame? Greedy governments and stupid people/media who listened to the naysayers and pseudo scientists.

      So, it stands to reason that not all views should be given equal treatment. Especially if the future well being of the planet is in jeopardy. And of course, the denial of poverty in NZ is another excellent example.

    • Stuart Munro 2.7
      16 January 2016 at 10:20 pm

      Whatever your opinion might be Wayne (and it’s bound to be pretty stupid) facts are sacred. Whyte was too lazy to even refresh his prejudices with New Zealand examples, and supporting details are conspicuously absent from practically everything you assert. I guess lawyers and truth don’t have much time for each other.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 2.7.1
        17 January 2016 at 10:15 am

        supporting details are conspicuously absent from practically everything you assert…

        Dr. Mapp is very sensitive on this subject. He displays considerable bias to the extent that speculation of a conflict of interest in his public role is inevitable.

        It’s all very well having a personal viewpoint, but are we really expected to believe that a personal viewpoint so devoid of facts is appropriate in a Law Commissioner? The last time I raised this issue Dr. Mapp boycotted The Standard for a while. I had hoped for a more robust defence, and perhaps he hasn’t got one. I wonder if he’d consider lifting his game.

      • greywarshark 2.7.2
        17 January 2016 at 11:58 am

        Just as rigid and fundamentalist religious can always find something in their holy books to back up their current train of thought, so can economists. Dig out a few lines from Adam Smith (without the countervailing arguments or concerns about possible negative outcomes) and shout them as a slogan, microchip them in all economic students.

        Find something similar in Ricardo, and sew them together till they appear seamless and then announce it as The Way. Not many people out of the billions affected have read all of Adam Smith (I haven’t but have the CDs, I’m waiting for the film). So how can they fight powerful, tantalising words with similarly effective countervailing words.
        (David Ricardo – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
        David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist. He was one of the most influential of the classical economists, …)

        The lines that I like again, from A Fish Called Wanda, apply to many RW who visit here to give us their arcane opinions and analysis. Sheep or apes?

        Wanda: [after Otto breaks in on Wanda and Archie in Archie’s flat and hangs him out the window]
        I was dealing with something delicate, Otto. I’m setting up a guy who’s incredibly important to us, who’s going to tell me where the loot is and if they’re going to come and arrest you. And you come loping in like Rambo without a jockstrap and you dangle him out a fifth-floor window. Now, was that smart? Was it shrewd? Was it good tactics? Or was it stupid?

        Otto West: Don’t call me stupid.
        Wanda: Oh, right! To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people! I’ve known sheep that could outwit you. I’ve worn dresses with higher IQs. But you think you’re an intellectual, don’t you, ape?

        Otto West: Apes don’t read philosophy.
        Wanda: Yes they do, Otto. They just don’t understand it. Now let me correct you on a couple of things, OK? Aristotle was not Belgian. The central message of Buddhism is not “Every man for himself.” And the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up.

  3. Bill 3
    16 January 2016 at 12:31 pm

    So, rather than recycling money back to people who have been impoverished by the market economy, why not just dispense with market economy?

    As a start – a first wee step down that road – what chance that those not in poverty acknowledge the fact that for money to have concentrated around them in any way, its presence must have been diluted around another?

    Even acknowledging that a reasonably well off person maybe did work extremely hard and even possibly made personal sacrifices above the norm (however you’d measure that) – does that mean they deserve a reward that has a direct negative impact on another’s well-being?

  4. savenz 4
    16 January 2016 at 12:32 pm

    Who still reads the Herald?

    Some herald marketeer probably noticed that their readership is falling and since they have fired most of their journalists they decided to put in a ‘opinion’ piece just to keep the idea they are not an all out propaganda machine for the Natz and Act.

    Also these opinion pieces mean they (probably) don’t have to pay for the content and can keep their few current journos on their zero hours type contracts! win win.

  5. Ross 5
    16 January 2016 at 2:52 pm

    “you wouldn’t be publishing such wildly inconsistent pieces”

    But with the current piece we can see why Whyte’s diatribe is garbage. Different views are important although they need to be well argued with some factual evidence. That didn’t happen with Whyte whose views haven’t changed in 10 years and probably never will.

  6. red-blooded 6
    16 January 2016 at 3:51 pm

    I tend to agree. How can there be a rounded public discussion if only some viewpoints are heard? Whyte is an arrogant, dismissive creep, and he really only had one thing to say (“If you’re not starving on the street you’re not poor (oh, and if you’re starving in a garage, or in your car, or in a damp, over-crowded rental, then it’s probably your fault”) ) but public debate isn’t a bad thing. Our media can seem unbalanced in terms of the voices and viewpoints that get heard, but I know that right wingers believe the same thing. I just think we’ve got to be ready to step up and challenge anything misleading or skewed, and to offer an alternative narrative. Good on Lizzie Marvelly for putting her experience out there. Of course, it would have been even better if there was some exploration of how to fix the multiple problems (apart from private charity, which is lovely but which is an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff rather than an earth-moving machine to level out the cliff somewhat).

  7. righty right 7
    16 January 2016 at 5:31 pm

    there is no poverty in new Zealand. john key is relaxed so there is nothing wrong if there was poverty john key would know

  8. Manuka AOR 8
    17 January 2016 at 9:51 am

    “This item by Anthony Robins seems more like a request for Herald censorship than having a contest of ideas.”

    This comment is disingenuous to the point of being trollish, for which reason I was reluctant to reply to it directly. However some other comments are responding as if there is some substance in it, which is rubbish. Nothing in what A.R. wrote suggested censorship, and to spin it as such is, in my opinion, mischievous.

    The state of journalism and the media in NZ now as we enter 2016 is disastrous. Again, this is my opinion, but I believe it is echoed by many across the board. Ref, http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/nz-politics-daily-2015-mediapocalypse-de-183378

    • r0b 8.1
      17 January 2016 at 11:47 am

      Thanks MAOR – I wasn’t going to bother replying to Wayne, but I appreciate that you did.

      Wayne is of course the author of one of the most inflammatory and racist press releases to ever blight NZ, so his standards when it comes to responsible media are pretty much rock bottom.

    • OneTrack 8.2
      17 January 2016 at 12:46 pm

      “Take climate change as another example, no responsible media should be publishing denier nonsense these days.”

      That statement there is explicitly promoting censorship of “unapproved” speech.

      • Manuka AOR 8.2.1
        17 January 2016 at 12:58 pm

        Put it back into the context in which it is written and what do we read: “I guess I’m asking for context and sanity checking in the media.”

        When taken out of context and presented as if complete, isolated items can seem to show just about the opposite of their original intention.

        Again, “I guess I’m asking for context and sanity checking in the media.”

      • Puddleglum 8.2.2
        18 January 2016 at 10:49 am

        No it isn’t.

        To explicitly promote censorship the suggestion would need to be made that an appropriate authority ban or forbid something from being printed/broadcast/spoken, etc..

        What this comment does is argue that media should be responsible in what they publish. In your opinion, should it no longer be allowed to make such arguments in public?

        That is, are you (implicitly) suggesting that Anthony Robins’ rights to free speech should be forcibly curtailed?

  9. Kelly-Ned 9
    17 January 2016 at 11:21 am

    Whilst I agree that we currently lack decent journalism in NZ, I am reluctant to move towards putting censorship of any kind into the hands of those same journalists!

    • Manuka AOR 9.1
      17 January 2016 at 11:36 am

      You are arguing to a strawman, or perhaps a straw dead cat, which was brought in and thrown on the table by a commenter. See how people are now talking about the straw dead cat and not to either of the topics in the post.

      • Kelly-Ned 9.1.1
        17 January 2016 at 11:50 am

        Good point.
        It is of concern that govt economic policy strips our country of employment opportunity by moving employment off shore, then blames the people for not being employed and being dependent.
        In the 70’s we were all told at school that a time would come when people would work less and have much more time for recreation. This seems to have only become the case for the very rich, whilst I look around me and see more people working multiple jobs for less wages. Also less job security, many not even able to get full time employment.
        I have long maintained that economic decisions produce economic outcomes, yet this govt ignores the economic causes and then expects the education system to some how magically create employment opportunities for graduates because they are qualified.
        It is the tail trying to shake the dog.
        Economic policy creates employment (or business) opportunity – not education. Education follows economic opportunity, not the other way around.

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    How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log on iPhone Without a Computer: A Step–by–Step Guide Losing your iPhone call history can be frustrating, especially when you need to find a specific number or recall an important conversation. But before you panic, know that there are ways to retrieve deleted call logs on your iPhone, even without a computer. This guide will explore various methods, ranging from simple checks to utilizing iCloud backups and third–party applications. So, let‘s dive in and recover those lost calls! 1. Check Recently Deleted Folder: Apple understands that accidental deletions happen. That‘s why they introduced the “Recently Deleted“ folder for various apps, including the Phone app. This folder acts as a safety net, storing deleted call logs for up to 30 days before permanently erasing them. Here‘s how to check it: Open the Phone app on your iPhone. Tap on the “Recents“ tab at the bottom. Scroll to the top and tap on “Edit“. Select “Show Recently Deleted“. Browse the list to find the call logs you want to recover. Tap on the desired call log and choose “Recover“ to restore it to your call history. 2. Restore from iCloud Backup: If you regularly back up your iPhone to iCloud, you might be able to retrieve your deleted call log from a previous backup. However, keep in mind that this process will restore your entire phone to the state it was in at the time of the backup, potentially erasing any data added since then. Here‘s how to restore from an iCloud backup: Go to Settings > General > Reset. Choose “Erase All Content and Settings“. Follow the on–screen instructions. Your iPhone will restart and show the initial setup screen. Choose “Restore from iCloud Backup“ during the setup process. Select the relevant backup that contains your deleted call log. Wait for the restoration process to complete. 3. Explore Third–Party Apps (with Caution): ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    13 hours ago

  • How to Factory Reset iPhone without Computer: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring your Device
    Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    20 hours ago

  • How to Call Someone on a Computer: A Guide to Voice and Video Communication in the Digital Age
    Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    21 hours ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
    Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications: Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
    Skeptical Science
    21 hours ago

  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
    The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    21 hours ago

  • How Many Watts Does a Laptop Use? Understanding Power Consumption and Efficiency
    Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    21 hours ago

  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
    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
    21 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
    21 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
    21 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
    22 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
    23 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
    24 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
    24 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
    24 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
    24 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    2 days 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
    5 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
    6 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

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago

  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago

  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago

  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago

  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.    “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago

  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours 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
    18 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
    24 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
    1 day ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
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  • Government backing mussel spat project
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  • Government focused on getting people into work
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  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
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  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
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  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
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  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
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  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
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  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
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  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
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  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
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  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
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  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
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  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
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  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
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  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
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  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
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  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
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    5 days ago

  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
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  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
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  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
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  • Navigating an unstable global environment
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  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
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  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
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  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
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  • Joint US and NZ declaration
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  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
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  • Government redress for Te Korowai o Wainuiārua
    The Government is continuing the bipartisan effort to restore its relationship with iwi as the Te Korowai o Wainuiārua Claims Settlement Bill passed its first reading in Parliament today, says Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith. “Historical grievances of Te Korowai o Wainuiārua relate to 19th century warfare, land purchased or taken ...
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