When Paula Bennett is positive about a group of beneficiaries, be suspicious

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, March 26th, 2013 - 47 comments
Categories: benefits, child welfare, families, paula bennett - Tags:

So, it looks like Paula Bennett doesn’t hate all beneficiaries with the power of a thousand suns!

After taking a close, careful look at a particular group of beneficiaries – those being paid to look after children of parents who are “incapable or unable to do the job” – Paula’s decided that they’re not bludgers: they’re heroes.

Simon Day of Stuff then handily produces a profile of one of these heroes, a grandmother raising eight of her grandchildren.  Hmm … I wonder how he got all her personal and financial information?

And this should be a heartwarming story about people doing what’s best for the kids and the state being willing to support them when they take on the financial burden of raising (eight!) extra children, and coincidentally doesn’t this just prove that Paula Bennett is really kind and compassionate and not just out to screw all beneficiaries?

I guess that means that the beneficiaries she does screw over really are bludgers.

And this is why that narrative works:  because Paula Bennett has found someone else to do the dirty work for her, and that person is Diane Vivian, chair of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.

Now, grandparents who step in to raise their grandkids when it’s necessary are doing fantastic work.  They’re providing a really important social good.  They deserve to have a group which advocates for them.

But that group, and its chair, should take care.  Because right now, you see, it’s really useful to Paula Bennett for them to be the ones slagging off parents:

There has been a generational failure in parenting in New Zealand, leaving grandparents to pick up the pieces, according to Diane Vivian, the chair of GRG, who raised three children and two foster kids.

“Parents are putting their own selfish wants and needs before those of their children. What I am seeing from our perspective is there is a whole generation of that,” she said.

… because right now, that feeds into the narrative that Paula Bennett wants:  look at me, I don’t hate all beneficiaries, just the evil bludging scum ones, and see, the saintly heroic grandparents agree with me!

Ms Vivian might just like to consider this, though:  what if that weren’t the order of the day?  What if Paula Bennett hadn’t front-footed this story for her own gain?  What if it had been the season for dumping on people raising kids who aren’t their own?

Then, Ms Vivian, you’re fucked.  Because the nasty little question you really don’t want journos like Simon Day to ask is this:

Why did you fuck up raising your own kids so bad in the first place?

I mean, Ann Tahitahi, the subject of his second article, is doing a fantastic job.  A job which should be supported.  She shouldn’t, in my opinion, still have to be working graveyard shift while raising ten kids.

But Paula Bennett isn’t saying “good on you, Ann Tahitahi” out of true admiration.  She’s saying it for a political purpose.  And if her purpose were just slightly more sinister, she might be saying “why should Ann Tahitahi get paid to raise more children when on her first try she turned out neglectful P addicts?”

Diane Vivian might like to consider that before sticking her foot in the way of a gun barrel.  Right now it is convenient for Paula Bennett to be on your side.  Do not assume she will be on your side tomorrow.

47 comments on “When Paula Bennett is positive about a group of beneficiaries, be suspicious ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. karol 1
    26 March 2013 at 7:48 pm

    From the Heroes article:

    On a cocktail of payments, the eight foster parents received Orphans and unsupported child benefit (UCB), which is paid to support a child or young person whose parents can’t care for them because of a family breakdown, their parents have died or can’t be found, or can’t look after their child because they have a long-term illness or incapacity….

    And the cost of negligent parents is growing. Orphans and unsupported child benefits have grown from $101m in 2010, to $107m in 2011 and $111m in 2012.

    So what’s the evidence for all this money being paid out to compensate for “negligent” parents? Most of it sounds like it is the result of unavoidable circumstamces. The Grandparent’s spokesperson claims that:

    Drug use, violence, neglect and mental health issues are forcing grandparents to take responsibility for children, according to research by the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust (GRG).

    There has been a generational failure in parenting in New Zealand, leaving grandparents to pick up the pieces, according to Diane Vivian, the chair of GRG, who raised three children and two foster kids….

    The growing decline of traditional family values has contributed to the neglect of New Zealand’s children and means the Government has to pick up the cost, Pilbrow said.

    “There is a fundamental breakdown in the family unit. Couples aren’t staying together as much as they used to, so there is a breakdown that way. Or, there is violence. And it is a growing market unfortunately.

    “Family values”? *Sigh*. Violence is a “market”?

    • Draco T Bastard 1.1
      26 March 2013 at 8:45 pm

      There is a fundamental breakdown in the family unit.

      And the obligatory fundy BS about the traditional family – the tradition that’s not much older than the colonisation of NZ.

      • David 1.1.1
        27 March 2013 at 4:31 pm

        I doubt it’s even that old. If one was to have access to the reality of the lives of people in the nineteenth century, one would undoubtedly find that living arrangements were far more varied and complex than people imagine. I suspect that throughout history the trajectory of the majority of individual’s lives has been anything but normal. However, also in history, the myth of “family values” being used by conservative leaders to attack the marginalised has been a long one. Augustus Caesar was a fan of “family values”. In many societies extended family arrangements have been the norm, with the larger group caring for children rather than “mum and dad”. NB the main purpose of “mum and dad” of course is to buy shares in energy companies.

    • prism 1.2
      26 March 2013 at 10:12 pm

      “Orphans and unsupported child benefits have grown from $101m in 2010, to $107m in 2011 and $111m in 2012.”
      Bul..t. The amount hasn’t grown much -it is mainly inflation affecting the figures. Nothing like making a big hoo hah so as to make the situation sound as bad as possible.

      All the government needs to do is support parents and ensure they have plans for their future and resources, or allow open adoptions and training for both mothers in child rearing so they can communicate amicably, also more control over alcohol and medicalising other drugs to make one of these step changes they were always on about in the heady early days of promise of the NACTs government term.

    • Wisewoman 1.3
      27 March 2013 at 2:08 pm

      It is sinister how mental helath issues are being tied up with “bludgin”. WOrrying

  2. freedom 2
    26 March 2013 at 8:02 pm

    figuring why Paula Bene-hit is promoting this story is like throwing a thousand darts at a bouncy castle,

    easy and deflating

    but i do i like what Lady Luna said
    “with people honing in on the fact that she receives an allowance to foster these children – do people not realise that all foster parents receive an allowance for looking after foster children? She works full time, and gets an allowance, that doesn’t make her a beneficiary”

    • karol 2.1
      26 March 2013 at 8:10 pm

      They aren’t so much foster parents as grandparents who get the Orphans and Unsupported Child Benefit.

  3. Tim 3
    26 March 2013 at 8:13 pm

    ALWAYS ….. be suspicious of Pulla Bent! For those that haven’t already cottoned on – more fucking fool you.
    An ugly specimen (in EVERY sense of the word UGLY – aesthesticallyi is what most assume. No!!!!. This woman is UGLY in a broader sense – hence – well, hence her want for assemtence amongst leaopard skin ugg booted, alongside fag-hagged finlaysons alOIK.
    I laugh at the philistines – indeed I laugh at those that ponder over the very definition of what consitutues a philistine.
    For now: Bent – HYPOCRACSY, ENVY, POWER STRUGGLE, HOLIER THAN THOU, Attitude of commin from the comman man – when REALLY – she hasn’t, nor ever did in comparison with those that do.
    UGLY UGLY UGLY.
    Ugly in look
    Ugly in mind
    Ugly in intent

    [Disclosure] I have not, nor have I ever been in a relationship with Pulla Bennet.
    I have worked in environments where this over-ambitious bitch [person] has been present and whose word takes second place to the sewerage that exited her exit points – (at the time) we thought it was green-friendly.
    [In her case, I doubt the waste will ever break down. It’s already at it’s lowest: CARBON]

  4. Colonial Viper 4
    26 March 2013 at 8:21 pm

    Gotta love how Tories are so good at divide and rule. Amazing advice they get.

  5. Olwyn 5
    26 March 2013 at 8:22 pm

    I fear that this could be a step toward normalising the removal of children from beneficiaries and the like who have not met an ever-increasing list of obligations.

  6. Athena 6
    26 March 2013 at 8:24 pm

    It’s not fair that some people who have already demonstrated that they were crap at parenting the first time around get applauded and funded to stuff up the next generation and someone who ends up on the DPB now is despised by Bennett and her cronies. Yet another example of the Nats inability to think straight.

    • Draco T Bastard 6.1
      26 March 2013 at 8:59 pm

      Yet another example of the Nats inability to think straight.

      Probably more accurate to say that they’re looking after a large part of their base – the old fogies with their Holier Than Thou attitudes.

      Of grandmothers and beneficiaries

      The grandmother is a model of virtue, the transmitter of matrilineal knowledge and wisdom who presides from a certain distance over the institution of the family.

      Yes, the supposed virtues of grandparents comes through loud and clear in those articles.

      Yeah, I know I posted it in Open Mike – fits here too.

      • rosy 6.1.1
        26 March 2013 at 10:45 pm

        the preference accorded to the noun ‘grandmother’ over the noun ‘woman’ (or retiree, or former teacher etc) is a source of some puzzlement to me. Is this how most women who also happen to be grandmothers self-identify? Is this how most people who aren’t journalists think of them? Or is this some kind of normative nominalism that reduces the individual to the most malleable abstract category available, furnishing a convenient peg on which to hang one’s preconceptions?

        Heh. Good observation.

      • Roy 6.1.2
        27 March 2013 at 11:15 am

        What Draco said.

      • Rogue Trooper 6.1.3
        27 March 2013 at 12:37 pm

        yes, an interesting echo Draco.

    • Psycho Milt 6.2
      27 March 2013 at 6:48 am

      It’s not fair that some people who have already demonstrated that they were crap at parenting the first time around get applauded and funded to stuff up the next generation…

      That’s a quite remarkable level of confidence in the ability of parents to determine how their children will turn out.

    • Wisewoman 6.3
      27 March 2013 at 2:06 pm

      SO because PB is manipulating a tragic situation, you have to jackboot salute and blame grandparents for parents who are unable to cope with bringing up children either temporarily or permanently. What is not fair about a grandparent looking after their moko? Your sweeping and generalising statement is exactly like that of Appalling Benefat? Why does ANYBODY have to be judged or despised. She judges the parents, you judge the grandparents. How is you sanctimony any better than hers?

  7. jpwood 7
    26 March 2013 at 8:25 pm

    Looking at their annual returns the Trust is only solvent because of the benevolence of their largest donor – the Ministry of Social Development. So this taxpayer funded advocacy group is suddenly aligning with the narrative being put forward by the Minister who is keeping the trust afloat.

  8. Mary 8
    26 March 2013 at 8:55 pm

    This is Bennett et al doing the spadework to begin the “debate” about whether these dead-beat parents giving their children to their parents to look after is becoming a “lifestyle choice”. Guess what comes next.

  9. irascible 9
    26 March 2013 at 9:25 pm

    Now, TVNZ should create a reality show with Paula Benhit taking on the job of looking after the 8+ children and household expenses for a month living only on the monies paid to the carer with no other income allowed. TVNZ could allow the public chances to create problems for Paula during the month that could threaten her budgetting.
    Could prove a real audience grabber.
    The show could be followed up with Heckia Parrota living & working as a teacher,getting paid on the novopay system and being held to public scrutiny / accusations of not delivering to Notional standards and coping with a set of really demanding parents at a parent-teacher night etc at regular intervals.
    Suggestions for other similar reality shows to be sent to TVNZ … Double Dipton to live on a Parliamentary cleaner’s income for a month…???

  10. pollywog 10
    26 March 2013 at 9:38 pm

    There ya go young mother, that’s how you can find a job while your littlie is not yet a toddler.

    Farm the wee sprog out to the grandfolks.

    And all you grandfolks who fucked up raising your own kids can now be guilt tripped into making amends with your grandkids.

    No flies on Paula alright…sharper than your average hammer!

  11. Cactus Kate 11
    26 March 2013 at 10:06 pm

    I was contacted by Mr Day to comment on this story, he OIA’ed what the top 10 beneficiaries earn and found many were receiving orphans benefits. That is the original source material.

    While he did not use my comments I asked what Bennett’s response was and at that time she didn’t have any so any suggestion she planted the story is false, the journalist seems to have gone to her.

    While this grandmother is commendable, it is of course her family that produced the problems here in the first place and indeed her own parenting. I did point this out.

    Had the Minister said this herself I am sure you would have written your piece here and ripped her throat out.

    • Colonial Weka 11.1
      26 March 2013 at 10:17 pm

      “While this grandmother is commendable, it is of course her family that produced the problems here in the first place and indeed her own parenting. I did point this out.

      Had the Minister said this herself I am sure you would have written your piece here and ripped her throat out.”

      Probably because it’s not the whole, or even a useful part, of the real truth, when it comes from the mouth of the Minister.

      We know that on Planet Bennett, everything is the fault of the individual, but the Tahitahi woman didn’t spoon feed her adult children P did she?

      Besides which, if you want to blame the grandmothers, why not the great grandmothers? Pretty soon we’re back in the mists of time.

      • rosy 11.1.1
        26 March 2013 at 10:57 pm

        Exactly, Weka.

        It’s no fun being a grandma, bringing up grandkids – A grandma’s job is to love, care for and spoil them, not love, care for and bring them up. And as for being fully responsible for how your kids turn out? Take a look around, bad luck, poor health, bad decisions, inappropriate friends and easy drugs can happen to those you least expect. There are a few high-profile New Zealanders that can attest that point.

        Because you’ve bought up a kid that can’t bring up their own kid doesn’t make you the wrong person to bring up your grandkids, nor does it make you the right person – all sorts of factors come into play. Maybe the husband who used to beat you up and messed with your children’s heads is no longer on the scene, for example.

        If you’re a straight-up person without vices that have damaged you, you have a stable marriage and job and you’ve brought up a kid that turned out o.k. maybe you still might want to just count yourself lucky, when as they get older, all the things that could have gone wrong along the way slowly emerge. I know I still touch wood when I think about how well my kids are managing their lives.

    • Mary 11.2
      26 March 2013 at 10:53 pm

      “it is of course her family that produced the problems here in the first place and indeed her own parenting.”

      I can’t see how anyone could be so simplistic as to say this without knowing anything about the family, their history, what went on. Parenting is just one factor influencing a person’s make-up. Oh how easy it is to instantly assume it’s all the person’s fault without knowing anything about that person. It’s one of the fundamental errors underpinning the callous uncaring attitudes of many on the right.

    • QoT 11.3
      26 March 2013 at 10:53 pm

      Yes, I would have, “Cactus Kate”, because beneficiary bashing is shitty. This really isn’t the hypocrisy you want to pretend it is.

    • Mary 11.4
      26 March 2013 at 11:00 pm

      Day’s story certainly suits Bennett. And in any case, what makes you so sure it wasn’t Bennett? People don’t necessarily just lodge OIAs because they miraculously decide to out of the blue. Sometimes it’s because someone’s suggested that they should.

    • karol 11.5
      27 March 2013 at 8:34 am

      So who added the grandmother slant (out of 8500 state sponsored foster parents receiving the Orphans and Unsupported Child benefit) and decided to go with the quotes from the fundy grandparent organisation?

      The article says:

      Receiving $2188 a week, the highest paid beneficiary is caring for eight foster children for which he receives a UCB. He is married, has two of his own children, and also receives an invalid’s benefit.

      The second highest paid receives $1822 a week from the government and is also working fulltime. He and his wife receive an UCB for caring for nine grandchildren, four of whom have disabilities for which the family also receives child disability allowance.

      Doesn’t sound like the first example is looking after his own grandchildren, the second probably is, though it doesn’t explicitly say whose grandchildren they are looking after.

      If they chose not to use CC’s input, who else did they get input from but not report on?

      This article praises (a small number of specific) beneficiaries, in order to attack many more, and make it look like Bennett isn’t against beneficiaries as a group.

    • felix 11.6
      27 March 2013 at 9:20 am

      “I was contacted by Mr Day to comment on this story”

      And that tells me all I need to know about Mr Day and his approach to journalism.

      In what fuck universe is your opinion on benefits relevant to the public discourse? Do you have some special expertise or experience in this area?

      Nah, he just thought “hmm, story about some of the poorest and most downtrodden families in the country, better get a wealthy overseas-based nasty right-wing hatemonger’s perspective on this”.

      What a cock.

  12. Colonial Weka 12
    26 March 2013 at 10:10 pm

    “When Paula Bennett first took over the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) portfolio in 2008 she was concerned at the amount paid to those looking after unsupported children. Now, she believes these caregivers deserve every dollar.”

    Great, it’s taken her 5 fucking years to figure out the obvious.

    • Draco T Bastard 12.1
      26 March 2013 at 11:00 pm

      She still thinks those on the DPB, the UB and the sickness benefit are getting too much though.

  13. Lloyd 13
    26 March 2013 at 11:12 pm

    How about Jerry Brownlee living a month as a snail on a mountain that Squalid Energy covets?
    Oh sorry, Squalid Energy has proved that coal mining is soo last century, long live the snails!

  14. Scintilla 14
    27 March 2013 at 12:08 am

    And you notice that, once again, it’s all about the wimmin. Who else has a half-share in this scenario? Fathers, grandfathers, husbands – what’s their roles? How did their presence or absence affect their children & grandchildren? Somehow it’s more about the women, in a retro-Freud kinda way it’s always the Mother’s Fault.

    Wouldn’t it be nice, just for once, to have Paula Bandit stand up and say “Well done, all you solo mums who’ve stuck it out and brought up your children on the smell of an oily rag and with sweet fuck all help from anybody else. Good on you.”

    John Key raises his glass and says “Cheers to that, I’m rilly relaxed about solo mothers.”

    • Psycho Milt 14.1
      27 March 2013 at 6:47 am

      Fathers, grandfathers, husbands – what’s their roles?

      In a situation where 35% of Maori babies are supported by benefits at the end of their first year and 21% in the population overall, a significant proportion of the nation’s fathers are effectively sperm donors – the women involved recognise that the deadbeats they’ve been fucking aren’t husband material and look to the state as “defacto spouse,” as one of my commenters put it. It would be nice if the state could impose some consequences on these sperm donors, but effective means of doing so that wouldn’t breach the BoR aren’t obvious.

  15. just saying 15
    27 March 2013 at 8:10 am

    … look to the state as “defacto spouse,”

    What absolute rubbish Psychomilt.

    More of your nasty, victim-blaming rhetoric.

    Sole parents are doing the job of two parents – a job that two parents working together often struggle with. The state provides sole parents with a subsistence income way below the minimum wage, which allows them to continue doing the job of two parents 24/7 with no breaks, holidays, or sick leave. If the state didn’t provide this inadequate pittance, it would have to pay much more for the children to be cared for by someone else, and/or through dealing with increased health costs, social problems and crime.

    The state does none of the parenting work, housework, or any of the other tasks that keep a family functioning, and provides the sole-parent with none of the emotional and physical support, that a “spouse” and second parent would be responsble for.

    • Psycho Milt 15.1
      27 March 2013 at 8:52 am

      The state does none of the parenting work, housework, or any of the other tasks that keep a family functioning, and provides the sole-parent with none of the emotional and physical support, that a “spouse” and second parent would be responsble for.

      Deadbeat dads don’t do those things either. The difference is the state has cash in its pocket and won’t make your life a misery – which makes the comparative attraction of the state as partner in childrearing obvious.

      • Pascal's bookie 15.1.1
        27 March 2013 at 9:11 am

        The state is just as much a ‘partner’ in these cases as it is in families that recieve wff, or take their kids to hospital, or send them off to public or integrated school.

        All these families get support from ‘the state’ in different ways, so why single out one type of support and elevate it to ‘defacto spouse’?

      • just saying 15.1.2
        27 March 2013 at 10:07 am

        Deadbeat dads don’t do those things either. ..

        Which is why they are not “spouses” if they ever were. As you put it, they:

        …aren’t husband material

        So now you’ve slid away from the state-as-defacto-spouse line, to state as “partner in child-rearing”

        Would you like a list of the responsibilities of an actual “partner in child rearing”?
        Or maybe you can just think about your own responsibilities in this role.

        According to your logic, the state is a “partner” to all private businesses, and to every single one of us, at some points in our lives.

        …….won’t make your life a misery – citation required.

  16. karol 16
    27 March 2013 at 8:51 am

    So the research that the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust referred to in the article, was completed in 2005. It was a survey of 324 grandparents and other kin carers.

    the findings were:

    Parental relationship breakdown is a common feature for the children being cared for by their grandparents

    – The major cause of placement with grandparents is drug (40.255%) and alcohol (29.10%) abuse and neglect (as a co-existing state).

    – The age of the parents at the time grandparents assumed primary care of their children was also analysed. The largest cohort for both genders was in the 20-30 year age group. The figures tend to debunk any theory grandparents are for the most part assuming the care of children of teenage parents

    – Nearly 25% of the caregivers have been caring for their grandchildren since birth, with drug/alcohol abuse, mental illness, abandonment, parental incapacity or incapability being cited as the principal reason for the placements.

  17. Rogue Trooper 17
    27 March 2013 at 12:46 pm

    Reap what ya sow; no guarantee that being raised by a “grand-parent” is going to lead to any better developmental outcomes…considering some of the size of responsibilities identified along with the increased generational / cultural divide. I am personally aware of many situations where the parenting of young people by “grand-parents” is leading to increased “delinquency” outcomes, lack of supervision and understanding of current socio-cultural norms for example.

  18. Rogue Trooper 18
    27 March 2013 at 1:27 pm

    also, it is arguable that the majority of “Boomers” are Nats / NZLast / Maori Party / Conservatives constituencies .

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    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago

  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    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
    5 days ago

  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago

  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    6 days ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    1 week ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
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