Who leaked Pullar’s name?

Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, March 23rd, 2012 - 78 comments
Categories: ACC - Tags: , , ,

Nick Smith’s handpicked chair of ACC, John Judge, denies that ACC leaked Bronwyn Pullar’s name to the media after she made public the biggest leak of private data in history from the organisation. So, who did? Given the government’s track-record of using private data to intimidate its critics – Bennett vs the solo mums, Brownlee publicising Dalziel’s redzone offer – I’m beating it was Judith Collins. She wouldn’t have expected it to result in Nick Smith’s resignation. But I doubt she cares.

78 comments on “Who leaked Pullar’s name? ”

  1. toad 1

    Yeah, from what I gather, Smith was far from the most liked Minister among his colleagues, but was tolerated because he got the job done.

  2. Jim Nald 2

    Speaking of which ….. NZ voters today would be spoilt for choice when trying to spot who might be the most outstanding Lady Macbeth of John Key’s party 😕

  3. ianmac 3

    In my opinion Judith Collins exhibits a spiteful arrogance. Would she leak? Mmmmm

  4. Ross 4

    I think you mean you’re “betting” it was Collins. Certainly Collins doesn’t seem to be too impressed with Pullar’s conduct, so it would come as no surprise if she was the leaker.

    • Jilly Bee 4.1

      According to Radio N Z, the Auditor-General Lyn Provost is considering an enquiry. I trust she will stick to her guns and authorise this – I imagine she will be put under considerable pressure not to proceed.

      I agree ianmac – spiteful arrogance sums up Judith Collins’ attitude.

      • burt 4.1.1

        Jilly Bee

        I understand that if the AG takes this track that all National need to do is claimed the ref changed the rules and denigrate her…. That’s apparently the acceptable approach endorsed by many on this blog.

        Apparently parliament know better than anyone what the intent of the law is and if the AG claims they breached it then the government (National…) can simply pass retrospective validations to sort it. Apparently killing of any court cases that might pop up is a bonus in democracy because it gets rid of pesky waste of time cases.

      • burt 4.1.2

        Jilly Bee

        I trust she will stick to her guns and authorise this – I imagine she will be put under considerable pressure not to proceed.

        One would imagine so. But that’s her role and to date she appears to act without fear or favour.

        As much as that’s excellent it’s also unfortunate because it means she may not stay in the role long enough to be really effective. If she alleges laws were breached and is told she made a bad call and to move on, what do you think she will do?

      • Fortran 4.1.3

        Such an enquiry does not fall within the pervue, or responsibilty, of the Auditor General.
        She cannot take this case – others will though.

        Falls more towards the Police, in the first instance, not A-G.

  5. brybry 5

    It’s certainly worth following up. Where did the name first appear?

  6. Surely the Minister of Corrections who expressed satisfaction at the idea that inmates of her prisons might be raped or beaten has far too much integrity, empathy and strength of character to do something like that?

  7. js 7

    I heard it was part of an ongoing battle between Michelle Boag and Cameron Slater (National Party chairperson grievance politics) and he leaked the whole story to the Dominion Post. Phil Kitchin has mentioned before how he gets a lot of information from him.

    • Tom Gould 7.1

      Word around town suggests its much closer to home for Slater and involves settling old scores with Boag. Nasty bunch, these Tories.

    • Ross 7.2

      Hmm that sounds rather dubious. I think Slater despises Kitchin, and according to Slater, Pullar released private files to Kitchin.

    • Whaleoil 7.3

      I have not ever spoken to Phil Kitchin, nor emailed him or corresponded in any manner.

      Kitchin has been running this story from information provided to him directly by Pullar, he has said that and now so has Pullar.

      [lprent: This comment went straight on? I haven’t changed anything. Random.

      Let me know if and when the problem shows up again and what your IP is at the time. For the moment I’ll file this as solved in trac. ]

      • mickysavage 7.3.1

        So Cameron where did you get the information from?
         
        And was Nick Smith caught in friendly fire?

        • Whaleoil 7.3.1.1

          What information are you talking about?

          Some of what I have published was sent direct to me years ago by Bronwyn Pullar…the rest is public domain from media sites.

          It is a valid assumption though that Smith might have got caught in friendly fire.

          • mickysavage 7.3.1.1.1

            Pullar’s identity. It was o

          • Colonial Viper 7.3.1.1.2

            Friendly fire. Is not.

          • mickysavage 7.3.1.1.3

            Pullar’s identity and Boag’s presence at the meeting as well as what was said.  Given Pullar’s continuous complaints about privacy whoever did this had nerves of steel.
             
            There are three possibilities:
             
            1.  A highly placed politico with access to ACC information leaked the information to the Herald.
            2.  An ACC staffer leaked the information.
            3.  A highly placed politico with access to ACC information leaked the information to a right wing blogger with an axe to grind against Boag.  Your name sprang to mind.
             
            If this is correct then Smith was taken out by friendly fire.  I bet no one thought about checking for letters before the leak occurred.
             
            I bet there are a few red faces in the National Party and the brat pack may be considering some utu.
             
            I get the feeling this is going to continue to develop.

            • brybry 7.3.1.1.3.1

              Unless, like Blubber says, it was Pullar herself. Which seems a likely scenario to me.

              • Colonial Viper

                Pullar would have known about Nick Smith’s letters, so if she was the one who did it, she would have needed to have been willing to cause him collateral damage on the way.

                Also, leaking it makes ACC look like shit, but probably also hinders her own case more than anything.

              • It’s entirely possible, Bryby.

                Having had experience with two people who have experienced head injuries, it can result in irrational behaviour; emotional outbursts, including anger at minor things; heightened sense of ego and grievance; and obsessive-compulsive behaviour. When Pullar admitted to sending multiple requests to Smith, who finally caved in to her constant demands, it fits fairly well with head injury ‘syndrome’.

                Of the two people I know, one recieved extensive ACC-supported therapy and financial assistance, and is slowly being rehabilitated into the workforce. (This was done under the previous Labour administration, not the current regime.)

                The other person was never diagnosed or assessed, as it occurred well before ACC and well before these things were appropriatly diagnosed. His life was pretty much as described above. He went from owning a million-dollar enterprise – to being an invalid and being cared for by his elderly parents.

                It would be strange, but entirely possible, that Smith was caught up in the extreme mental-yo-yo world of a head-injury case…

  8. brybry 8

    This article from By David Fisher
    5:30 AM Sunday Mar 18, 2012
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10792840

    Is there an article that pre-dates that?
    And did Michelle Boag send a letter, or an email, or a letter in an email, or all of the above?

  9. aerobubble 9

    Hypothetically, lets say you’re a bureaucrat and fed up with one client. You are trying to justify the clients rights to your bosses and inadvertently send not for publishing documents to the client.
    Must happen all the time with lawyers, etc, where tiredness or fed up employees…
    Intentionally or not its a game changer, even a form of entrapment to see if the client would do the right thing allegedly

    Imagine your are angry, frustrated, powerless, and then your handed a gift to level the playing field, how many would be wrong to use that gift, criminally wrong.

    Its the Urs Singer who now finds deportation a possibility. He goes to a training ground, gets involved in illegal acts, and now has to fight off be thrown out of the country. If the government had an agent provoker pushing for illegal uses of weapons, etc….

    Now my understanding of entrapment in NZ, unlike other countries, is its legal????

    Add to that the three strikes, and the pig board placing a camera of your youngest kid (illegally) finding his older brothers (legal) porn mag, and you have a real problem in NZ that the government has too much power and little in the way of limits to make life hell for whom ever it chooses.

    We have no protection when both parliament rushes law into place without any thought to the likelihood that they will be wrong, which inevitably they are. The lack of safeguards for liberty in this country is shocking. Its Fiji now, who would dare stand up to government.

  10. Ross 10

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/6609619/Victim-furious-over-ACC-handling-of-leak

    Strange that ACC knew in December that its files had been disclosed to Pullar but is only now informing some of the victims.

  11. He he I wonder if Key’s office knows about this?  The next Cabinet meeting ought to be very interesting.
     
    And I thought that Collins and Smith were on the same side?

    • Tom Gould 11.1

      The jockeying is already well under way. They know the double talk and lists of lists and dirty dealing and smearing and photo ops are starting to wear thin. Power is now so concentrated, and the baubles so dull, political cannibalism is inevitable. Nasty venal bunch, these Tories.

    • ianmac 11.2

      Or more importantly, did Key know about this matter before this week?
      If he did then he mislead Parliament.
      If he didn’t know (and there was quite a lot of ACC action by December) what competency is that?!!
      Is it possible that Key knew alright and shifted Smith out of ACC to try and avoid fallout?
      Inquiry please.

      • Craig Glen Eden 11.2.1

        Who did the leak?
        Look no further than Collins I reckon. Collins would have known about this situation when she took over ACC, watch her for your selves in Parliament clips when Smith resigned she was wishing she could be any where else but there.

        I also reckon Key knows who did it, he didn’t look sad at Smiths resignation he looked pissed, like he knew this was done by one of his own. Fun and games in the National Party for the next little while I reckon, the real question is as others have said when will the rat pack take their revenge, it will happen but when?

        • Pascal's bookie 11.2.1.1

          God knows eh.

          But Smith isn’t asking for an enquiry into the events leading up to his own resignation because he *doesn’t* know what happened, I tell you what.

          The other thing to bear in mind is the Key is a hands off CEO style PM. His cabinet get pretty much a free hand to run their portfolios, and he only gets involved when someone needs to go.

          The most obvious example of that was with the broadcsts rights to the RWC when you had ministers bidding agin each other.

          n older example from when he was new in the leadership was with the S59 debate. Most of the National party was bleating away and stirring up the fundies on the one hand, and poking sticks at Labour on the other saying labour was being whipped into voting for it and blah blah blah; then in steps the boss, right over all of their toes and cuts his deal and tells them they are going to vote for it.

          He is above most all of what goes down policy wise I reckon. his role is strategic and political. As long as the Ministers are not causing political problems he doesn’t really get involved, and there doesn’t seem to be much evidence that he’s in the loop on what is going on untill there is a problem.

          This works for him, because he becomes a fixer, untouched by the scandal. It pops up, he doesn’t know anything about it, stalls for a day, maybe two, and then lowers the hammer if it’s starting to look dangerous.

          I’d say he knew there was trouble bewixt Collins and Smith, but doubt he wanted to know about the details. He seems like a “You sort this shit out between yourselves, because you don’t want me to have to get involved” type to me.

          So he may well have decided, rightly enough, that it’s better for Smith to go for what’s already out there, than to let it fester and have more stuff come out.

  12. The state services commission knew of the leaks before the december meeting with
    pullar,sooo john key would have been aware of the leak and also of smith’s
    involvement,this is why the new acc minister collins was put in the loop,so she\
    knew as well, so john key must resign,collins must resign,the acc board must resign,
    Parliamentry rules broken by key,collins,they were in the act of a cover-up.
    NZ deserves better from their politicians.

    • toad 12.1

      No, those Ministers would not have necessarily been alerted by the State Services Commission, starlight. But the one who would and should have been is the Minister responsible for the SSC, Tony Ryall.

      And if it can be shown he had knowledge of it, and failed to act on it, he should join Nick Smith in the League of Former Ministers.

  13. The commission confirmed that pullar sent it a copy of the spreadsheet 6mnths ago,
    meaning acc should have been alerted before the pullar meeting in december.
    If those ministers were kept in the dark by ryall,then he is also at fault,you would
    think that smith would have been notified,being the acc minister,obviously there
    has been an attempt to keep everything quiet.
    I feel that pullar herself leaked the spreadsheet,but she didn’t expect that it
    would have affected smith so badly.

  14. Sarah 14

    Rumour has it Boag tracked the email. It led straight from Judith Collins to Cameron Slater

    • Sarah, there were a lot of discussion and warnings on this thread yesterday about posting unsubstantiated rumours. You’re probably safe from reprimand here though.

      • felix 14.1.1

        “about posting unsubstantiated rumours”

        Really? I haven’t searched the thread, but yesterday all I saw was discussion and warnings for posting opinions and rumours as if they were facts.

        I’m not saying it didn’t happen, but I’m sure you could point me to an example if it did.

        Can you?

        • IrishBill 14.1.1.1

          What felix said.

        • Pete George 14.1.1.2

          So you can say anything here if you preface it with “rumour has it” or “in my opinion”?

          Rumour has it that IB and lprent would have different opinions on that.

          • lprent 14.1.1.2.1

            Not quite. Assertions of fact tend to to get jumped on from a great height if they aren’t backed. Quoting or attributing the opinions of others without linking is just plain stupid and also gets moderator ire.

            If you think it through then what is left is pretty much personal opinion and the usual rumor mills. Stating something as personal opinion, personal experience or straight rumour means that others can treat it as well.. Opinion or rumour. It just has to be clear that is what it is.

            Putting those things up in public means that others can refute them directly in comments. That is a transparency that I find works a hell of a lot better than the same opining and rumour mongering that happens in most broadcast and broadsheet media.

            In the end it is the credibility of their online handle that is at stake, and the ability to leave comments here at all. Assert too often without backing and the perpetrators will get permanent bans. Have ridiculous opinions too often, and you’ll find everyone engages only to mock. Reputation is everything.

            It has been the way of the net for 30 years or so. It was how the net was developed and why it developed. Remarkably effective at disseminating information because it is based entirely on previous mana from a history of offering good opinions. Scares the hell out of a lot of people in their first years on the net because there are limited leverage positions apart from giving good opinions.

      • mickysavage 14.1.2

        Interesting that Slater should comment here for the first time in ages, that he appeared to be running a diversion by talking about Kitchin rather than Fisher from the Herald, and that he then claims that he received all of his information either from Pullar herself or through publicly available information.
         
        Perhaps he could reappear and deny Sarah’s rumour.  Was he leaked Boag’s email by Collins?

        [lprent: whale has had a problem leaving comments here. I think that either akismet didn’t like him or his IP, but his comments were apparently disappearing without a trace. ]

        • Pete George 14.1.2.1

          Why don’t you ask him?

          It might be a step too far to ask unions to deny rumours though. That wouldn’t be a fair approach, would it.

          [lprent: the problem yesterday was people asserting facts. That reminds me, I must have a look at Rob to see if he has managed to find a source. ]

          • mickysavage 14.1.2.1.1

            PG 
             
            The Unions have denied the allegations repeatedly.
             
            No doubt you will continue in different ways continue to making this comment even though you do not have a shred of evidence to back it up.

            • Pete George 14.1.2.1.1.1

              Have they? Good, if they have also denounced anything like that.

              Have you got a link to back that up?

              • Back what up?  Don’t you have any credible sources for information?  If not why do you think that any attention should be paid to your comments?
                 

                • It’s you that made a claim – “The Unions have denied the allegations repeatedly” – with no attempt at sources. Why should any validity be paid to your claim?

                  • Try this one for a start.
                     
                    Poor old Petey sitting in Dunedin with his eyes closed and his fingers in his ears demanding proof of something which is so easy to find.
                     
                    Is your plan to divert away from the rather serious issue concerning the possible breaching of someone’s privacy?

                    • Thanks msavage, now I know that if it’s easy to find then a link isn’t required. Except that a link to audio is not very convenient.

                      No, I’m not trying to divert, and note your participation on this thread.

                      There are a few serious issues surrounding Pullar and ACC, but I think we need to wait for the results of inquiries before jumping to conclusions.

                      But on the surface there does seem to be misuse of political and possibly bureaucratic power. And Pullar doesn’t seem to have acted very well regarding holding and possibly attempting to misuse private information that bizarrely ended up in her possession.

                    • Pascal's bookie

                      Oh pete.

                      The thing about not jumping to conclusions is, if you’re not going to do it, then you shouldn’t go ahead and do it with regard to Pullar.

                      When you do, you look like a nasty political operative with more concern for the politics of the situation than anything else.

                      There are lots of things out there, and lots of questions. Many of those questions won’t be answered by the investigations that are being held (Police and Privacy comm.).

                      If the AG decides to investigate, then maybe some of those other questions will get looked at, but it is not unseemly for people to be talking about it, especially when it isn’t yet clear that the AG will have an investigation, or what that investigation might be into.

                      But seeing you are happy enough to talk about what things look like on the face of it, and what it seems like with regard to Pullar…

                      What, on the face it, does it look like that Smith wants an inquiry into the events leading up to his resignation, and Key and Collins do not? What does that seem like, to you?

                      It seems doubtful to me that Smith doesn’t have some idea of what the investigation he wants would show. Does that not raise serious questions about why Key doesn’t want it?

                      What say you pete?

                    • Pb – it’s a known fact that Pullar received information from ACC she shouldn’t have – someone else’s fault – but it’s also a known fact that she kept that information for months, so it’s not jumping to conclusions being critical of that.

                      Things don’t look flash for Boag either, that’s been widely talked about.

                      And things went pear shaped for Nick Smith through his own indiscretions.

                      I don’t know what ‘political situation’ you are talking about. I’ve certainly got nothing political to gain from any of this – I guess unless you think I could precipitate a snap election and pull off some electoral miracle.

                      Maybe you’re trying a bit hard on the ‘political operative’ thing yourself – especially with your edited addition.

                    • Pascal's bookie

                      Baog’s role has been talked about indeed. But what I’m saying is that it seems from your comments that that is a bad thing, that people shouldn’t be leaping to conclusions or what have you.

                      Many of her actions are known facts. The letter she wrote to Collins was leaked, obviously by someone with access to it There’s no reason to think that that would be large circle. Fran in the Herald is confident enough to say that Collins was probably behind the leak, in spite of Collins’ denial. Do you think Fran was out of line there?

                      As to the politics, you are laughable Pete. Possibly the most un self aware commenter in the landscape. And in a landscape that includes redbaiter, that’s quite a feat.

                    • Pascal's bookie

                      I’m just asking questions Pete. From one private citizen to another. What on earth are you complaining about?

                      Why not tell me what you think about those questions, from one citizen to another?

                      It’s called citizenship pete, discussing the politics of the day.

                      Certainly the questions I ask reflect on me. But so what? I don’t resile from the reflection, and the questions are genuine.

                      But by the same token, your answers, or lack of them, and your insinuations that questions are innappropriate or whatever, reflect on you. Surely?

                    • You’ve jumped to a lot of conclusion based on nothing I said. Is that what you call “political awareness”?

                      I didn’t think I’ need to mention absolutely everything about all the associated issues and people to escape criticism. Come to think of it, that probably wouldn’t have made any difference.

                    • Pascal's bookie

                      pete. I wasn’t attacking you. All I did was point out the fact that when you selectively talk about things, while at the same time saying that people shouldn’t be leaping to conculsions or whatever, it looks a bit whiffy.

                      And you seem, again, seem, to be very determined not to talk about amny of the other facts that are out there. that’s ok, but guess what/ People are perfectly entitled to find that strange and talk about that strangeness.

                      Don’t be such a big baby.

                      now seeing you said I’ve made some assumptions, perhaps you could be so kind as to point them out.

                      let’s discuss the issue shall we?

                      or is that above, or beneath, you?

                    • Do you mean come back to the topic? Who leaked Pullar’s name?

                      That’s the sort of conclusion I won’t try to jump to, unlike Zetetic who’s seeming to use the uncertainty as an excuse to propose whatever he/she wants to. Is that the political operative sort of stuff you were referring to?

                    • Pascal's bookie

                      I was thinking about this stuff Pete;

                      ,blockquote>But seeing you are happy enough to talk about what things look like on the face of it, and what it seems like with regard to Pullar…

                      What, on the face it, does it look like that Smith wants an inquiry into the events leading up to his resignation, and Key and Collins do not? What does that seem like, to you?

                      It seems doubtful to me that Smith doesn’t have some idea of what the investigation he wants would show. Does that not raise serious questions about why Key doesn’t want it?

                      What say you pete?

                      No leaping to conculsions necessary. There facts, what do those facts look like, on their face. You were happy enough to talk about how facts relating to Pullar made her seem to you.

                      So I’m just genuinely wondering what these facts make you feel about Key and Collins. What does it look like that they are saying we don’t need an inquiry into the things Smith feels need to be explored?

    • starlight 14.2

      The tories are ‘donkey deep’ lol

  15. Carol 15

    Fran O’Sullivan implies an email from Boag was leaked by Judith Collins in an op ed piece today (is this when Pullar’s name was leaked to the media?):

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10794249

    Any Cabinet minister sitting in “The Crusher’s” shoes – particularly a politician with as strong an instinct for self-preservation as Collins has – would quickly have worked out the impact of Boag’s email was they were also likely to be dragged into the same mud-pool which subsequently swallowed Nick Smith.

    The ACC Minister would quickly have reached the conclusion that all Boag’s email did was to compromise her.

    Hence she sent it to the ACC .

    Collins’ fingerprints will not be directly attached to the copy of the Boag email that was later leaked to the Herald on Sunday.

    But the ACC Minister, who is a former Law Society president, will not be shedding any crocodile tears over Pullar’s predicament. Nor will she be concerned at Boag’s embarrassment after she was hung out to dry.

    But O’Sullivan, always the NAct government cheerleader, uses her column to put the boot into Boag, and give Collins a bit of a positive glow.

    But if Boag is such a clumsy and bad bad-ass, what does it say about her being behind Key’s recruitment to the National Party?

  16. Let’s connect some dots here, about leaks; http://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/gerry-brownlee-in-the-public-interest/

    Now, are we starting to build a picture?

    • Jim Nald 16.1

      overhead in a cafe … this john key government is a government of strategic deficits and strategic leaks.

  17. Fortran 17

    Getting Boring as to whodunnit !!!
    Move on.
    There are bigger fish to fry.

  18. Sarah 18

    Here’s my opinion about the leaking…..

    Collins found out it was Pullar. She thought f**k that bitch, how could she do this to me. Why didn’t she talk to me.

    Then she heard Boag’s side of the story and thought shit I’m screwed.

    Desperate, Collins went to Slater said what dirt do you have on Pullar.

    Collins says perfect – we can use that angle around threats in the report to cover my arse.

    Slater said we also have this email Pullar forwarded me that she sent to Nick Smith threatening to expose wrongdoing in ACC, copying the media into this email. Slater says there also rumours about her and Smith’s relationship.

    Collins finds out what else is on file in the Ministerial office between Smith and Pullar. She’s like my god, not a reference….you are f**king kidding.. Shit this is brilliant. I can take out Boag, Pullar and Smith all at once.

    Collins manipulates the report to state that Pullar threatened ACC, which suits the ACC managers who are also covering their arse. Serious arse-covering all round.

    ACC release a one sided arse covering report (without any primary factual evidence) that the whistleblower threatened the ACC managers to obtain a 2 year benefit payout…even although such things aren’t possible, to create maximum damage to shift the focus from ACC/the breach back onto the whistleblower

    The media is like shock horror, blackmail, extortion etc.

    Collins leaks Boag memo to Whale.

    Whale leaks memo from Boag naming Pullar to the Herald. Perfect, exposed and both linked to blackmail and extortion to destroy their credibility.

    Collins tells Whale about Herald about Smith letter for Pullar. Whale contacts Herald. Herald reports this as a woman/’claimant’ rang the Herald.

    Threats, extortion/blackmail, inappropriate relationship etc. Perfect. Now we’ve got them.

    Pullar denies threats and goes to police to lay a complaint. Crap.

    State Services knew of breach for six months, longer than Pullar, yet never notified ACC of breach, whereas Pullar did. Crap.

    Software tracking emails & attachments and the ISP’s where opened, printed, on forwarded etc Crap.

    One email, one leak. Tracking. Collins, Slater, Herald. Oh dear.

    Question Time should be interesting this week.

  19. Anne 19

    Yes, I too, am intrigued by Sarah’s interpretation of events.

    I have tried, but I don’t have sufficient knowledge to be able to access a video of Question No. 2/March 20th/Kevin Hague to the Minister of ACC.

    If I’ve recalled the right question, a study of Judith Collins’ facial expression immediately prior to her answering the question says it all. That she is guilty of something is written all over it.

    • deuto 19.1

      I am also intrigued by Sarah’ s interpretation. IMO there is a lot more to this than meets the eye, especially with respect to Collins’ involvement. Am just taking some time to think about Sarah’s interpretation before commenting – that is not a negative, as a female myself I have some experience as to how we think, including many of the (female) players in this saga. NO – not trying to make this a gender thing!

      Anyway, here is a link to the recording of Kevin Hague’s question 2 on 20 March. Not sure I can identify the expression you refer to but Collins’ appears IMO to be much less self-assured than she usually is through out this recording. I also found the behaviour of Tau Henare and the other person immediately behind her during this question and answer session interesting.

      http://inthehouse.co.nz/node/11875

      Hope this link works – had some difficulty pasteing it. FYI all Parliamentary recordings can be accessed by going to the www. inthehouse.co.nz site.

      • Anne 19.1.1

        I’ve got the wong question deuto. Now you’ve given an address, I will see if I can find it. It may well have occurred during the course of a supplementary question but not this one. I can assure you it was look to kill…

        • deuto 19.1.1.1

          The correct link is (I think) http://www.inthehouse.co.nz – my comment included an incorrect space between “www” and “inthehouse”. Having watched question time each day this week, I also recall that look but cannot remember which question it related to – or it could also have been in the General Debate session on Wednesday?

          • Anne 19.1.1.1.1

            Thanks for the link. Know where to look in future. As I said if looks could kill… there would have been a lot of dead people – including you and me. 🙂

            I think she spoke during the Urgent Debate that same afternoon. That was probably when it happened. Might try and find it tomorrow.

  20. ACC insider 20

    Four questions Minister Collins needs to be asked:

    Has the Minister run an IT sweep of her office for the email relating to Bronwyn Pullar that was leaked to the Herald on Sunday. If not, why not?
    Is the Minister aware that emails and attachment can be tracked, including when these are opened and the ISP address of where they are opened?
    Did the Minister or her office provide a copy of the memo regarding Bronwyn Pullar to Cameron Slater or any of his ISP’s?
    Did the Minister or her office encourage Cameron Slater to provide the memo regarding Bronwyn Pullar to the media?

  21. Nick K 21

    David Shearer must be loving this. He’s having to do absolutely nothing and watch the government suffer. Incredible.

Links to post

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 hour ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    3 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    3 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    8 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    8 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    8 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    11 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T05:52:15+00:00