Why New Zealand First Will Get Back In

Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, August 17th, 2023 - 70 comments
Categories: election 2023, International, nz first, winston peters - Tags:

Winston’s term with Ardern shows what high-delivery, low-foolishness government looked like. That’s why he’s rising again.

Ron Mark the Minister of Defence got through two of the biggest defence purchases in decades: the replacement into new ‘Super-Hercules’ to replace the old ones for troop deployment and regional crisis support. The second was to replace the old P3 Orions with the new P8 Poseidons. Also a really big upgrade to the Ohakea Airbase to deal with them. He also oversaw the completion of the giant HMNZS Aotearoa supply ship. He also instigated upgrades to a number of Pacific Island airports and air strips, which have been completed over the last 2 years. We are much stronger in defence because of NZFirst in their Ardern term.

Winston Peters got the largest investment in foreign aid we had seen in years, and used it to good effect almost as soon as he was elected doing a speech into the Lowy Centre think tank and promised everyone that we were there to play our part in reversing growing Chinese influence. Lowy Institute is where all Australian defence and foreign affairs players hang. When the Christchurch massacre occurred, Prime Minister Ardern dispatched Peters as Foreign Minister to a swathe of Muslim-dominated governments to assure them that we were fully on their side and we would right ourselves.

It was Winston’s leadership in the first Ardern term, together with Ardern herself, that deeply embedded a complete change in our foreign policy.

Then there’s the $3 billion for the Provincial Growth Fund. That was $2 billion more than proposed in the coalition agreement. It was a roaring success, far better than anyone had ever expected. It also proved to be the critical template for accelerating projects which was to be so helpful in the massive NZUP post-COVID rebuild fund, and most of those projects are still in construction. This fund and its programme was by a long, long way the largest investment in provincial or regional economic development in half a century. Helen Clark’s industry growth frameworks usually had the locals do most of the work and over half the funding, and that was still a country mile better than multiple previous governments.

The move to make a Zero Carbon Act and an independent Climate Commision came from the NZFirst-Labour coalition agreement, not the Greens. It also required that when agriculture went into the ETS, all revenues from this source would be recycled back into agriculture. We would have happy farmers making carbon money. Imagine that now.

Then there’s the ‘handbrake’ moves of which Winston Peters is quite reasonably proud in the first Ardern term.

The first is the decision by Winston Peters to actively kill off the light rail funding deal. This particular deal was one in which the lead Minister Phil Twyford, was alone powerfully seduced by a Canadian pension company to provide an unlimited franchise to one company to build, own and operate light rail with no connection to any local ticketing system or transport system.  It was literally a license to print money. Twyford handled it all so badly that he was demoted, and a few months later demoted further. And it was Winston Peters that killed that deal in cabinet. When we can now see the light rail costs ballooning out now by the tens of billions, and no national integrated ticketing system in sight, Winston clearly made the right move.

Then there was the decision by the Ardern government to reject the Spark bid with Huawei to upgrade 5G infrastructure. While widely seen as uniting within similar bans from the United States and Australia, in reality it was more targeted. I’ve got no proof but this has Winston Peters fingerprints all over it.

Another was the coalition agreement move not to proceed with another parliament building. Imagine how opening that would have gone down with the public right now.

The likelihood of the Births Deaths and Marriages self-identity clause getting through Parliament let alone Cabinet under Winston Peters would be zero. He had and has no time for what in 2020 he called “woke pixie dust.” What we see now in 2023 is a fractious, splintered leftist movement that has rapidly turned against each other and whose key achievement, Three Waters, has been one of the governments’ most politically expensive disasters.

Winston Peters certainly had a hand in killing off a Capital Gains Tax in April 2019. Whether this was a convenient excuse for Ardern at the time or not, Prime Minister Hipkins certainly understands that Winston’s political calculus was more accurate than those of Parker or Robertson. It wasn’t Hipkins that killed it off. Listen to what Peters said in July 2020 of high-tax parties and see if he’s wrong when you see our economic doldrums now:

The only idea these people ever have is how to spend someone else’s money and no idea how to grow a nation’s economy. Tax policy needs to be smart, targeted towards our exporters, growth in the economy and jobs, jobs, jobs.”

Uncomfortable for the die-hard remnant of Ardern supporters though it may be, Winston Peters was the only politician to engage with the protesters on the grounds of Parliament in 2022. New Zealanders are not fickle and Winston’s people do remember. Those protesters and their families will reward him for it and Labour will in part be punished for it.

Winston Peters together with his colleague Shane Jones were the only New Zealand politicians who sought to publicly hold our largest business, Fonterra, to any kind of account. The current Labour government have legislated again and again to give them everything they want. Fonterra have continued to make New Zealand one of the most narrow and vulnerable exporting economies in the world, to just one country, China. Fonterra through 2018 made huge losses, marked down everything it owned, started to sell off all its overseas businesses, and rapidly shrank. Our one business of any internationally competitive scale. Fonterra’s multi-decade promises to increase its value-added goods have been nothing but lies. Shane Jones also called for the Chair of Air New Zealand to be sacked, for abandoning regional New Zealand centres. Just imagine if we had a current government who really held our key companies to account whether public or private.

Had Winston Peters been in the coalition this term, there is 0% chance that Mahuta and Sage would have been able to cook up their late-night SOP to entrench the 3 Waters legislation to achieve a 60% vote in order to privatise the water entities that were then proposed. Not because he would have opposed the idea of resisting sales of water entities, but because he would have targeted the legislation towards centralised governance and not an irrational regional hybrid that we had last left behind with provincial government in the 1870s.

Winston Peters got stuff done in the Ardern government because he was one of the very few in there with the experience to make a deal, how to get it paid for, how to deliver it, how to take credit for it, and how not to over-extend. None of those elements were evident in the 2020 coalition arrangement.

That is why New Zealand First are going to get back into parliament in 8 weeks time.

70 comments on “Why New Zealand First Will Get Back In ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. tsmithfield 1
    17 August 2023 at 10:39 am

    I tend to agree with you. And, NZ First is a natural home for dissatisfied central Labour supporters who don't want to vote Labour this time around, but can't stomach the thought of voting National. And vice versa I guess.

    The interesting thing will be whether he has the casting vote on which coalition gets into government.

    • DS 1.1
      17 August 2023 at 12:22 pm

      New Zealand First in 2023 is quite a different beast from the New Zealand First of 2017 or 2008. This version of Winston doesn't get the support of centrist Labourites (of course not, Labour is centre), and his days of economic interest are over.

      This Winston has decided that there are enough kooky conspiracy theorists obsessed with "globalism" and vaccines and transgender plots to get him to 5%. Turns out he's probably right, in that the Upper North Island has become a petri dish of such views. He'll do abysmally in the South Island though.

  2. mickysavage 2
    17 August 2023 at 10:39 am

    Ad and I agree about most things and disagree only occasionally.

    On this I disagree with him. NZ First was a major handbrake and stopped development of important policy particularly in terms of climate change.

    His return to Parliament would IMHO be a very retrograde step.

    • Ad 2.1
      17 August 2023 at 11:17 am

      🙂 Comrade.

    • Patricia Bremner 2.2
      17 August 2023 at 11:58 am

      Winston also likes to be in control, but at arms length, so often others do the work.

      I remember, he did not "see" his mate Nash being too friendly with donors or fishing companies.

      I remember he has not repaid the $100000.

      I remember he can grandstand, and has never admitted there is climate change.

      I remember his seeming disparagement of all Maori asperations as divisive and racist,

      I remember his "walk" in front of Parliament among the squatters and protestors was for personal attention and theatre, not in sympathy for their ideas.

      He is clever devious and a great opportunist. But to say he is good for Government is a huge stretch. imo.

      It is always about Winston.

      • Roger Dewhurst 2.2.1
        20 August 2023 at 2:35 pm

        Man made climate change is just a con which most people are too stupid to understand. For the last two million years or so we have been going through glacial-interglacial cycles increasing from 40,000 years to 125,000 years in the last half million years. These climatic cycles relate substantially to the Milancovic cycles but modified by solar cycles and continental movements. Currently the glacial-interglacial cycle in which modern humanity evolved has a 1000 year solar warming and cooling cycle superimposed on it. We see the Roman Warm Period about 2000 years ago followed by the cold Dark Ages, then by the Mediaeval Warm Period about 1000 years ago, followed by the Little Ice Age and now the current warm period. That is our climate, a 125,000 year cycle. It is not a 30, 40 or 50 year period. Carbon dioxide has almost nothing to do with it except its increase hundreds of years AFTER climatic warming commences. Why? Warm seas release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Cold seas absorb carbon dioxide. Made made global warming is peddled by corrupt academics feathering their own nests and politicians too stupid to understand the nature of geological time. We have NO idea whether NZ is a net contributor of carbon dioxide to the world's atmosphere or not. We have NO array of stations on the west and east coasts recording wind speeds, wind directions and tenor of carbon dioxide. Without these we have NO clue whether or not our forests and vegetation absorb, as food, most or all of our carbon dioxide emissions. Roger Dewhurst

        [Letting this through because it is sincerely argued and is a neat synopsis of all of the deinalist claims mixed in with a profound level of scientific illiteracy – MS]

    • DS 2.3
      17 August 2023 at 12:47 pm

      As 2020-2023 amply demonstrated, Winston Peters wasn't the handbrake in 2017-2020. Labour itself was the handbrake – Winston was just the excuse.

      But people thinking this is the 2017 Winston are not paying attention.

    • Macro 2.4
      17 August 2023 at 1:14 pm

      NZ First was a major handbrake and stopped development of important policy particularly in terms of climate change.

      His return to Parliament would IMHO be a very retrograde step.

      Totally agree. Jeanette Fitzsimmons once told me how she became aware of the then Labour Govt's ditching of the then proposed introduction of the Carbon Tax – which the Greens totally supported. She visited Helen Clarke's office once after Winston had been with the PM. On her desk was a draft Bill for an ETS. This was the first occasion that the Green's had any indication of the change in direction to putting a price on Carbon emissions. A scheme so deficient that NZ's Carbon emissions have shown no significant decline since it's inception:

      New Zealand’s gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have shown no sustained reductions compared with 2005. In 2020 New Zealand’s gross greenhouse gas emissions were 78.8 million tonnes of CO2-e, 4.7 percent lower than 2005 and 20.8 percent higher than 1990. Emissions were 3.5 percent lower than 2019, primarily due to decreased emissions from road transport, which – in a year of covid lockdowns –saw the biggest annual decrease since the start of the time series (down 8.3 percent).

      https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/new-zealands-greenhouse-gas-emissions

      • Anne 2.4.1
        17 August 2023 at 1:47 pm

        I gave Winston P full credit for his revelations concerning the Winebox papers back in the 1990s. Since then his so-called contributions to good government have been, in the main, questionable. He stymied several of this government's policy positions in their first term. He would say they were bad policy. He was wrong.

        He has fallen out with both sides due to his intransigence. Few of his complaints seem based on genuine beliefs or concerns. His views are populist style… designed to appeal to the less politically aware among us. A good example is his courting of the conspiracy theorists and extremists.

        If he's not willing to campaign for, or give moral support to his own people, then he can't be trusted to do so for the rest of us.

        I rest my case.

        • Chris 2.4.1.1
          17 August 2023 at 2:35 pm

          It would be hilarious if NZF's re-emergence, together with the inflation of certain egos, had the effect of denying a nactoid government. Probably unlikely but, ironically, might be the only hope Labour's got.

  3. Blazer 3
    17 August 2023 at 10:46 am

    I think Winston will bolt into Parliament.

    Luxon hoping in vain for guidance from the polls to…rule him..out.

    I see NZ First have a policy of capping immigration at 15,000 per an.

  4. Ngungukai 4
    17 August 2023 at 10:51 am

    Winston and NZF is the only viable alternative, most of the Policy put through in the 2017 Coalition Labour/NZF Government was NZF Policy. The removal of GST from fresh fruit and vegetables has always been NZ Policy since Adam was a Cowboy !!!

  5. Hunter Thompson II 5
    17 August 2023 at 10:53 am

    Can't say I see the Provincial Growth Fund as a roaring success for NZ First. The Auditor-General was highly critical of its performance and lack of accountability: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/national-threatens-pgf-cuts-after-damning-auditor-general-report

    I recall another report of $160,000 being wasted on a Northland forestry scheme that failed because the land was useless for a timber plantation.

    I concede that Winston stalled crazy policy proposals in other areas, and there is no shortage of those at present.

  6. Sanctuary 6
    17 August 2023 at 10:53 am

    If that is NZ First's immigration policy then it is classic playing to elite theory, where elites are the insiders who shape consensus reality and whose moral and political views dominate. The elites of both the left ("woke elite") and right (metropolitian upper class) love immigration. It is a lot less popular with the great unwashed, who are forced to live in the reality created by those elites and think they are victimised if they question it.

    • Blazer 6.1
      17 August 2023 at 11:17 am

      I can see a contradiction in your argument there.

      Who do you think these 'elites' vote for?

  7. Anker 7
    17 August 2023 at 11:02 am

    100% Ad. Thanks for setting out what Winston achieved in 2017 – 2020.

    This article has all but cemented my vote for him.

    it was Tracey Martin who moth balled the gender self ID bill.

    unfortunayely Tinetti resurrected it. A recent Curia poll undertaken for SUFW showed only 20% of the voting public supported self ID.

    the alienating woke identity politic have driven many women from labour. As a previously loyal party member, they lost my support (although it wasn’t just the gender self ID, many of their other policies made it easy for me to leave.

    • Ngungukai 7.1
      18 August 2023 at 4:59 am

      Jacinda hand picked Tracey Martin to be her right hand woman as her had a lot of political experience and had been Deputy Leader of NZF, Tracey Martin is a very competent person in the Education & Health Fields and her mother Anne Martin was President of NZF for a long time. Anne Martin was one of the founding members of NZF.

  8. Anker 8
    17 August 2023 at 11:07 am

    Before I could post this link in my comment @7 my comment was published.

    https://www.speakupforwomen.nz/post/majority-of-new-zealanders-do-not-support-sex-self-id

    this is the link to the Curia poll showing only 20% NZderssupport self ID.

    winston has now come out saying that he will put forward legislation to preserve single sex spaces and women’s sport for women only

      • SPC 8.1.1
        17 August 2023 at 4:34 pm

        WP should have kept it simple – repeal of self ID.

        Then guaranteed.

        1. women's refugees can refuse access to anyone they choose on the grounds of safety (from being drunk, on drugs, to being aggressive or having a past …)

        2. lesbian groups (gathering spaces or online) having the right to exclude those not biologically female, if they choose.

        3. sports groups having biological sex categories for females – on grounds of fair competition, or safety as they choose.

        Bathrooms/changing rooms policy is the harder part – given the transsexuals/managed transition of the past.

        • Tabletennis 8.1.1.1
          18 August 2023 at 2:43 pm

          Even under the new Self-Id law: In New Zealand, it is still legal to provide single sex services and spaces for girls and women.

          Questions about the implications of self-identification for service providers.

          ​What does the new law say about how service providers should consider birth certificates as evidence of sex or gender?

          ​The new legislation clarifies how birth certificates can be used as evidence of sex or gender. Where service providers need to determine someone’s sex or gender, other factors can be considered over and above the sex listed on a birth certificate. This reflects the fact that birth certificates are not intended to be considered evidence of a person’s identity (usually birth certificates are provided with other documents such as a driver licence or passports to prove identity).

          ​What will self-identification mean for single sex spaces and activities such as changing rooms and sports teams?

          ​The self-identification process should not affect how access to single sex spaces or sports is determined. Birth certificates are not usually used to determine a person’s right to access single sex services or spaces.

          <

          p style=”text-align:justify”>Organisations and individuals can continue to rely on their own policies rather than birth certificates. For example, it is still up to individual governing bodies to determine how sex and gender are determined in sport. It is also still up to individual schools to discuss with learners, parents, caregivers and whānau what name and gender learners use, regardless of the details on their birth certificates.

          SPEAK UP FOR WOMEN – Because Sex matters

  9. newsense 9
    17 August 2023 at 11:37 am

    So you only have to back up claims in the comments?

  10. Kat 10
    17 August 2023 at 11:57 am

    "New Zealanders are not fickle………………"

    Maybe not all are fickle but a lot sure are politically illiterate……

  11. gsays 11
    17 August 2023 at 12:17 pm

    Gold Card!

    Don't forget Gold Card!

    I recall Winston, around 2017 election saying something like the neo-liberal experiment had run its course and wasn't working.

    Maybe his influence could see the next government pivot away from it and enact meaningful change that leads to a more resilient self reliant Aotearoa.

    Dare to dream.

  12. Corey 12
    17 August 2023 at 12:34 pm

    Yes actually, I agree with you.

    A lot of lefty's hate Winston, but without him we'd probably be in a fifth term of national govt (had they handled covid well)

    The 2017-2020 govt achieved quite a lot, NZF's is a weird party that is often to the left of Labour economically and to the right of national socially.

    Sure Winston and co blocked the CGT but outside of it, the biggest handbrake to progressive change in the last six years was Labour not New Zealand first, evidenced by how labour gutted the Keynesian pgf overnight.

    I actually see room in parliament for NZF, Top, a working class left party, a genuine libertarian party (not acts neolib in drag)

    The more parties the better quite frankly.

  13. James Simpson 13
    17 August 2023 at 12:35 pm

    Winston will act as a good brake to a Luxon lead government.

    My suspicion is his popularity will increase if it looks like the right are likely to win as people will be terrified of the ACT influence. If a vote for Labour looks likely to be wasted if they can't for a government, then people will vote Winston to slow Luxo down.

  14. Mike the Lefty 14
    17 August 2023 at 12:48 pm

    NZF supporters have to work out what exactly they are voting for.

    Are they voting for a continuation of the Labour led government, a NACT coalition or a hung parliament (and another election)?

    They don't seem to know because Peters either doesn't know himself, or won't tell them.

    If you support a (rising) minor party you should know the consequences of your vote and if NZF supporters are not interested in the consequences then it suggests that the party really has fallen under the influence of the conspiracy theorists who just want to create political chaos in NZ.

  15. pat 15
    17 August 2023 at 1:22 pm

    Of a dozen or so people I know well (well enough to ask who they will vote for) I was surprised to learn that of that group almost all of whom voted Labour at the last election, over half are now planning to vote for NZ First.

    Make of that what you will

    • bwaghorn 15.1
      17 August 2023 at 6:45 pm

      Because??

      • pat 15.1.1
        17 August 2023 at 7:38 pm

        That is the question…some said because they cant vote for national or Labour (for various reasons)…and most of them stated that what Winston was saying made sense (?)

  16. UncookedSelachimorpha 16
    17 August 2023 at 3:05 pm

    "Listen to what Peters said in July 2020 of high-tax parties and see if he’s wrong when you see our economic doldrums now"

    The view that tax cuts (which usually favour the rich) drive economic growth, is as incorrect as the belief that boot camps are effective. If you want small government and low tax, move to a third world country, they have it set up and waiting for you.

    Keeping tax low for the rich does not boost economy

    Our results show that…major tax cuts for the rich increase the top 1% share of pre-tax national income in the years following the reform. The magnitude of the effect is sizeable….The results also show that economic performance, as measured by real GDP per capita and the unemployment rate, is not significantly affected by major tax cuts for the rich. The estimated effects for these variables are statistically indistinguishable from zero.

  17. Shanreagh 17
    17 August 2023 at 3:08 pm

    Winston may 'say' he will rule out working with Labour…..it used to be Jacinda Ardern, I am sure that he would not turn down an approach from a possible Labour Govt short of a few seats. Just never say never or think never. NZF policies are, if the past is anything to go by, for the most part sensible, practical, not scary and could provide a menu for a coaliton agreement. We could do worse. Labour/Greens/NZF.

    Apart from his strange cohort of candidates, not all of them mind, he does know his stuff. I am sure that he will be able to control his caucus.

    • DS 17.1
      17 August 2023 at 4:13 pm

      It's not the policies of the past. It's anti-vaxxerism, obsessing about transgender people, and cracking down on perceived Wokeness. It's far-right Culture War for anyone paying attention – and in this case, Winston's pulling in the same direction as ACT, just without the tax cut obsession.

      • Shanreagh 17.1.1
        17 August 2023 at 4:16 pm

        Yes well people have different opinions and the more the merrier.

        I think the premise of Ad is that his opinion is that Winston/NZF has a chance of getting in. I am agreeing with him and saying that. Doesn’t mean that i am voting NZF or agree with all/any/some of his policies.

      • Anne 17.1.2
        17 August 2023 at 6:35 pm

        yes

        He's a snake in the grass. Twisting and turning every which way. Depending on the outcome, he will choose according to who he thinks will suit "his party" best. Make no mistake he owns the party lock, stock and barrel and politics is just a game to which he is addicted.

        He will get away with it through a combination of subterfuge and charm. My much loved godmother who passed away in the late 1990s adored him.

  18. rod 18
    17 August 2023 at 4:04 pm

    Winston Peters has had is time, he is 77 years old. God help us.

  19. observer 19
    17 August 2023 at 4:12 pm

    The only possible excuses for believing Winston's words are …

    1) You are a new immigrant, having just got off the plane

    2) You are a teenager who has not voted before, or even paid attention to politics

    3) You have suffered a recent head injury and remember nothing

    For the rest of us, 30+ years of Winston is more than enough time to learn what he stands for (= Winston) and who he will work with (= anyone who is offering a bauble).

    The issues don't matter. He doesn't care – as long as they give Winston headlines, it has ranged from Asian immigration, smacking, the Treaty, vaccination, bathrooms … any soapbox, for any fools. Don't be one.

    Or get that head injury checked.

  20. SPC 20
    17 August 2023 at 4:27 pm

    NZ First will not support a NACT coalition and ACT will not support a National -NZF coalition.

    National expect to obtain c and s from both and govern as a minority, as they did 2008-2017 (albeit with NZF in place of United and TPM)

    • DS 20.1
      17 August 2023 at 4:31 pm

      In 2008-2017, National was dealing with vassal parties. ACT is too damned big to be a vassal now (a good twice the size of NZ First, even if Winston gets in).

      • SPC 20.1.1
        17 August 2023 at 4:36 pm

        If WP supports ACT in government his legacy is ruined.

        Don't under-estimate National – they funded the return of NZF to lock up Seymour in his Epsom cage.

      • observer 20.1.2
        17 August 2023 at 4:38 pm

        True enough, but the ultimate question is the only one that matters:

        "Would ACT vote against National on Conf & Supp?".

        Obviously, never.

  21. observer 21
    17 August 2023 at 4:33 pm

    By the way, the OP is way off the mark. The general public are not sitting down with a microscope to study the details of NZF in government. And "New Zealanders are not fickle" is a truly strange take. Every 3 years the voters prove exactly the opposite, which is why National and Labour fluctuate from 20 to 50%, depending on the sun and moon and the leader's star rising.

    This contrary devil's advocate stuff is fun as a parlour game but it's not to be taken seriously.

    People are restless and Luxon's hopeless. Hence the shop-around. That's it.

    • gsays 21.1
      17 August 2023 at 5:48 pm

      "which is why National and Labour fluctuate from 20 to 50%, depending on the sun and moon and the leader's star rising."

      Also the performance of the ABs…

    • Ad 21.2
      17 August 2023 at 6:48 pm

      2020 was an outlier.

      It's usually a very small shift to make one coalition or another.

      Hence 2017 was close, as was 2014, 2008, and all the way back to the start of MMP in 1993.

      Go ahead dismiss Winston.

      • Patricia Bremner 21.2.1
        17 August 2023 at 7:06 pm

        That is the problem Ad, he can't be dismissed, as he loves to appear pivotalwink

      • observer 21.2.2
        17 August 2023 at 7:30 pm

        I don't dismiss Winston's prospects, only the over-thinking about why.

        "Plague on both your houses" is common to many democracies, including NZ. When both major parties are failing to connect, then the gap opens up. No different from Germany, UK, Australia, etc. It's a feature of our time.

        NZF getting 5% is obviously possible, because National's emptiness has let them in. That explains it far more than the list you offer, most of which the public barely know.

        Sometimes the obvious answer really is the right one. Luxon is no Key, therefore Winston benefits.

  22. Chess Player 22
    17 August 2023 at 8:02 pm

    How are you measuring success of the Provincial Growth Fund?

    Dollars spent, or outcomes achieved?

    Genuine question, as I live in the provinces.

  23. SPC 23
    17 August 2023 at 8:47 pm

    None of those elements were evident in the 2020 coalition arrangement co-operation agreement.

    https://www.parliament.nz/media/7554/labour_greens_cooperation_agreement-1.pdf

    • Ad 23.1
      17 August 2023 at 10:03 pm

      You're about to assert that the "purpose and goals of the Zero Carbon Act" have been achieved as per that agreement?

      Go for it.

      Or you are able to show as I actually stated that this current government has "the experience to make a deal, how to get it paid for, how to deliver it, how to take credit for it, and how not to over-extend.".

      Best of luck with that one as well.

      Must surely be time for someone to do a post showing what the Greens have achieved this term.

      • SPC 23.1.1
        17 August 2023 at 10:07 pm

        I am sure you first must demonstrate the success of the 2017-2020 coalition government to deliver on KiwiBuild …

  24. Darien Fenton 24
    18 August 2023 at 3:45 am

    I can't believe I am reading this on the Standard. It's all about Winston. Tell me any of their candidates ; Shane Jones might get a nod and takes money from Talleys to fund his campaign. Jenny Marcroft left the party but has come back to the same "boys club" she left in the first place, there are recycled MPs who never did a thing, there's that Waka jumper who used to be a National MP and stood in Roskill. Have a look at some of the looniness that is emerging among other candidates. Have a look at donations from big business going to NZ First. As for the handbrake. I live in the West and I saw the signs from NZ First saying only they could get rid of National in 1996. They didn't and signed up to a continuation of the worst 10 years of workers' lives. The handbrake in 2017? NZ First blocked Fair Pay Agreements, progress of rights for contractors, anything to do with climate change and many other Labour initiatives that would have made a difference. I will concede he was a good foreign minister, and that's where he probably should have gone ; an ambassadorship overseas somewhere. Tracey Martin was a good Minister, but resigned from NZ First after the election ; and showed much integrity in doing so. NZ First policies are a sad joke as they desperately seek to compete on the same ground as Freedom NZ and Brian Tamaki by pushing populist buttons they think might get them enough votes. Oh and where is their List? Winston seems to think he has veto over it until the last minute. Great for party members eh.

    • Tiger Mountain 24.1
      18 August 2023 at 7:04 am

      Rare is the day I agree with Darien, but do on this one. NZ First are poison, and they have now hitched a ride with various fruitcakes aligned with the occupation of Parliament grounds and anti vaccination and 5G.

      Winston could have retired with some dignity after the successes of the PGF in the Far North which included new jettys and wharves for tiny settlements few have heard of, SH round abouts and new bridges, rail upgrades, Kaikohe business and research park, Moerewa freight depot etc.

      But no, he chose to write a letter to the Governor General backstabbing Jacinda Ardern.
      A fitting punishment for him will be a 4.9% party vote and his exit from politics!

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    “But, that’s the thing, mate, isn’t it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
    Bowalley Road
    9 hours ago

  • JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigeno...
    Jerry Coyne writes –  This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland,  the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    13 hours ago

  • Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
    Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    17 hours ago

  • Speaking for the future
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    18 hours ago

  • How Should We Organise a Modern Economy?
    Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 day ago

  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago

  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago

  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;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:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    6 days 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
    7 days 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
    7 days 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
    7 days 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

  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    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
    1 day 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    7 days 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
    1 week 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
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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