Why right wing media is bad for democracy and the planet

Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, February 19th, 2023 - 37 comments
Categories: climate change, Deep stuff, Environment, Media, science, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, us politics - Tags:

This week before Cyclone Gabrielle hit there was a noted level of scepticism about how bad things would get.  Newstalk ZB was, surprise surprise, particularly bad.

From Charlie Mitchell at Stuff:

“People contacted me from Napier saying some schools were shut there,” broadcaster Kate Hawkesby said on her early morning show, after reading the message from Tauranga.

“I just wonder what’s happened to us as a country that we’ve become this paranoid and this soft.”

This is all good red meat for Newstalk ZB’s core constituency, grumpy old white men who enjoy getting angry.

Mike Hosking joined in.  Again from Mitchell’s article:

“What we’ve done is whip ourselves into this extraordinary frenzy,” [Hosking] said, wondering why libraries were closed and trains weren’t operating.

”There is no reason for this level of hysteria.”

They both engaged in a bit of bob both ways covering all sides of the story and both also interviewed experts about the situation, who gave valuable information to listeners but I am sure you get the point.  This sort of anti intellectual schist is a core part of the business model.

They were both subsequently shown to be completely, and tragically wrong, just as the right wing media has been over the past 30 years when it comes to climate change.  And now that the change is happening in real time they are still wrecking what needs to be a proper debate with their stupid takes.

Hosking has been the king of the stupid take.  He said this about climate change in May last year in rubbishing a newly released Scientific tool that predicted inundation:

So, by the time you take the doubt, the fact we’ve been worried about these things seemingly forever, and this new addition of land movement, the question is, has a lot changed? They say, yes of course. Instead of your town being underwater in 60 years it might be 20 years. Then again, it might not.

What we do know is the media is always up for a good old scare story, hence, they continue to give precedence to the alarmism. But in the alarmism is part of the problem, how many times can they scream disaster before it wears off? It’s already started to wear off and has been doing so for years.

And any policy which addresses climate change is regularly ridiculed and attacked.  Think cycleways, wind turbines and Three Waters if you need examples.

One may wonder if engaging in anti expert rants and peddling to conspiracy theories is accidental or part of the business model.  I have very strong suspicions it is the latter.

From the looks of Dominion’s defamation suit against Fox News it appears that turbo charging frothing at the mouth of its followers is more important than the truth.  From Richard Luscombe at the Guardian:

Hosts at Fox News privately ridiculed Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen while simultaneously peddling the same lies on air, according to court filings in a defamation lawsuit against the network.

Rightwing personalities Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham are among those named in the $1.6bn action brought by Dominion Voting Systems, the seller of electronic voting hardware and software that is suing Fox News and parent company Fox Corporation for maligning its reputation.

“He’s acting like an insane person,” Hannity allegedly wrote of Trump in the weeks following the election as the host continued to push the so-called “big lie” during his top-rated prime time show, aided by a succession of election deniers he had on as guests.

Even billionaire Fox owner Rupert Murdoch was dismissive of the former president’s false allegations, the filing alleges, calling them “really crazy stuff” in one memo to a Fox News executive, and criticizing Trump’s scattergun approach of pursuing lawsuits in numerous states to try to overturn his defeat.

It was “very hard to credibly claim foul everywhere”, Murdoch wrote, adding in another note that Trump’s obsession with trying to prove fraud was “terrible stuff damaging everybody”.

They were particularly disdainful of Sidney Powell, one of Trump’s lawyers who repeatedly claimed that Dominion’s machines were changing Trump votes to Biden votes.

“Sidney Powell is lying,” [Tucker Carlson] wrote to a producer, the Dominion lawsuit alleges. He referred to Powell in a text as an “unguided missile” and “dangerous as hell”.

Trump, Carlson said, was a “demonic force” who was good at “destroying things. He’s the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong.”

Laura Ingraham thought the same.

Fellow host Ingraham told Carlson that Powell was “a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy,” referring to the former New York mayor and Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani.

Even Sean Hannity thought that what Powell was saying was bonkers.

Hannity, meanwhile, said in a deposition “that whole narrative that Sidney was pushing, I did not believe it for one second”, according to Dominion’s filing.

You may wonder what the link is.  Well both media outlets have been pushing ideas without proof in order to give their listener base their daily feed of grumpiness.  The Fox News example is particularly jarring.  They knew that what they were pedalling about Dominion was false.

Newstalk ZB’s model of trying to hold back progressive change just because it is progressive is very damaging.  At the very time we need a deep discussion of where we are going as a country they are holding things back because it is good for ratings.

We need to have an informed discussion.  Hosking and Co are not providing this.

37 comments on “Why right wing media is bad for democracy and the planet ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. dvT 1
    19 February 2023 at 12:27 pm

    Hosting and informed in the same line. GEEZ

  2. Muttonbird 2
    19 February 2023 at 12:59 pm

    Mediawatch takes the diseased 1ZB out the back and shoots it:

    In a storm that killed people and destroyed homes, some front rank hosts in key time slots at our most popular national talk radio network obsessed about a missed day of school.

    Education is a wonderful thing. But perhaps it’s not our students who most need to sit down and take on board some information from people better informed than they are.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018878253/radio-hosts-fixate-on-schools-closing-as-gabrielle-closes-in

  3. Ghostwhowalksnz 3
    19 February 2023 at 1:02 pm

    Never mind, Hosking will do a complete volte farce this week like he always does. Which would be fine if he explained why he was wrong. Never does .

    He flip flops more than Luxon for the same reasons….marketing

  4. Ad 4
    19 February 2023 at 1:08 pm

    One of the many losses of the dead TVNZ-RNZ merger is a lost ability for synchronized nationwide messaging.

    The broadcast capacity would be stronger, the facts at least more consistent.

    Wasn't ZB once state owned?

    • Anne 4.1
      19 February 2023 at 2:28 pm

      Wasn't ZB once state owned?

      Yes. For many decades. Sold sometime in the 80s I think or maybe early 90s. Rogernomics.

  5. Ghostwhowalksnz 5
    19 February 2023 at 1:11 pm

    Strange bit of plagiarism in the stuff story by Charlie Mitchell

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300809224/cyclone-gabrielle-scepticism-is-a-sting-in-covids-tail

    Its clearly a minimal rewrite of the RNZ Media Watch segment by Hayden Donnell

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018878253/radio-hosts-fixate-on-schools-closing-as-gabrielle-closes-in

    Stuff and RNZ have a cross licensing agreement so could have used a story's with attribution.

    • mickysavage 5.1
      19 February 2023 at 8:34 pm

      Published before the Mediawatch post went up. I think both reporters were attracted by what was some very weird broadcasting.

      • Ghostwhowalksnz 5.1.1
        20 February 2023 at 6:33 am

        I knew this question of timing would arise.

        Stories are written often well before they go online ( time and date stamped often). When I worked for a newspaper with 300 journalists ( but I wasnt one) stories might be held over for all sorts of reasons and the editors like a pipeline of material that could have a placing at different days or even weeks later. Media Watch from memory has a regular day slot

        Like I said Stuff and RNZ have cross licensing and likely see stories ahead of publication for the general reader

    • Incognito 5.2
      19 February 2023 at 9:02 pm

      Go on then, point to the sentences and sections with similarity so high that it is likely a copy & paste job, aka plagiarism. Bold claims require bold evidence and I doubt that you have a leg to stand on – knock yourself out.

  6. tc 6
    19 February 2023 at 2:29 pm

    Dominion are doing everyone a favour. They may as well grab the next crop of ‘presenters’ from acting school.

    Murdoch's doubling down on his pursuit of crikey for defamation..at least he's out in the open about it unlike another who resides in this country at times.

    Across the ditch Albanese is doing squat about the murdoch dominated Oz market, no surprises there.

    Here Mr and Mrs Outrage carp to an ever declining demographic. Interesting times.

  7. Ad 7
    19 February 2023 at 7:03 pm

    Democrats and Labour worldwide have been repeatedly shown that campaigning on anger enabled the right to beat the left across Europe, UK, the US, India, Philippines and elsewhere.

    The first broadcaster to emulate Fox from the left with anger algorithms would enable the left to reverse the trend.

    All that hyper-femme kindness crap just ensured the left got their asses kicked.

  8. Thinker 8
    19 February 2023 at 8:37 pm

    What if people stopped listening to these guys and gals. Their ratings would plummet, their advertising income would drop and they'd be doing the breakfast shift at the Golden Arches, not ZB.

    We decry what they do but, as if we were watering the weeds in our gardens, we keep listening to them and they thrive.

  9. tsmithfield 9
    20 February 2023 at 7:23 am

    Several thoughts here. Firstly, the only strongly right wing prominent media people I am aware of are Hosking and HDPA. So, from the way I see it, the media is hardly right-wing biased.

    So, there should be plenty of counter-balancing views to whatever Hosking and HDPA have to say on the topic.

    Seconldy, if the finger can be pointed at right wing media, it can also be pointed at weather experts, civil emergency, government authorities for not acting a lot earlier in evacuating at risk areas. It is not like this storm came out of nowhere, and that its areas of rainfall wouldn't have been predictable within a time-frame to take action. Those authorities would have had a lot more knowledge of the actual situation than any media personality, and so should be a lot more accountable IMO.

    I think there should be a commission of enquiry after all this.

    • observer 9.1
      20 February 2023 at 8:20 am

      Out of interest, who are the left wing (or even liberal) equivalent of the radio hosts Hosking, Hawkesby, HDPA etc?

      Sure, individual reporters might have a leftish perspective, but there is no comparison between hosting an established radio show and writing about the environment for the Spinoff. The reach is a hundred times greater.

      Which lefties are on the back of the bus, on the billboards? I can't think of any.

      • tsmithfield 9.1.1
        20 February 2023 at 8:53 am

        Last time I looked, I think Newstalk ZB had about 30% of the radio market. So, I guess the make-up of the other 70% would answer that question.

        Probably a worry if the remaining 70% doesn't have any memorable commentators, because that would suggest that most of those listeners don't give a shit.

        • lprent 9.1.1.1
          20 February 2023 at 9:13 am

          30% of the commercial radio market is actually fuck all.

          Their criteria for ‘listening’ is that people hear it. Which in my case means that I am a ‘listener’ because it is usually on whenever I get in a taxi, or go to a shop, or somewhere where it is playing in the background. Which is a lot of public places.

          Which is why they claim 3.4 million people listen to commercial radio each week.

          The reality is that a few people seem to live with the radio on all of the time. Mostly because it is in their workplace of home. However most ‘listeners’ don’t choose to listen to it. They just get caught in someone else’s silly addictions.

          I never choose to listen to commercial radio. I don’t choose the playlist, and their news and commentary is farcical. I mostly listen to Tidal or Spotify for music. Mostly read my news because then you get some detail past the breathless hooks of news radio, and the moronic mutterings that are paid commercial opinions. If I need to listen to the news, I’ll use RNZ national programme if I’m in the car. But mostly I just use my phone to look it up.

          Who has the time in their lives to listen to idiots and their music selections and opinions.

      • Gosman 9.1.2
        20 February 2023 at 11:38 am

        There is nothing stopping you setting up a media platform to do this from a left wing perspective if you have the desire and motivations. Sean Plunkett did so.

  10. Peter 10
    20 February 2023 at 7:32 am

    Of course we need to have an informed debate. Hosking and co, zb, don't have to provide that or foster that.

    What they have to do is the same as has been highlighted with Fox very recently, get listeners/viewers.

    Any ethics are geared to that.

  11. Gosman 11
    20 February 2023 at 11:36 am

    This sort of thinking is dangerous because you make an argument there is a massive problem with the media and then leave it. Most reasonable people would then start to think that something should be done about it and that something should be driven by the Government.

    The reality is that there are multiple media options in our society from across the spectrum in NZ. That is the nature of having a free and largely unregulated media environment. If you don't like the editorial direction of one media outlet choose another. If you are worried that people are being fed disinformation then present the actual facts as you see them on the competing media. Make a case and let society work through everything to enable the majority to come to a view.

    What is not usually a viable (nor welcome) solution is to try to manage the messages from the media sources you dislike. That way leads to totalitarianism.

    • fender 11.2
      20 February 2023 at 6:25 pm

      There's a big difference between a media organisation that's disliked due to being incompatible with ones left/right preference and one that endangers lives due to playing down the severity of a fucking cyclone!!

    • adam 11.3
      20 February 2023 at 9:38 pm

      Sheesh Gossy trust you to go total straw man, nothing to see here BS.

      Freedom!!!

      The freedom to not die because someone tells lies for political point scoring is a big one in my world.

      Face facts mate – your right wing buddies lied (at worst) or twisted the truth (at best) to take a side swipe at the government rather than inform people of a disaster in the making.

      The fact your not sicked about that tells me more about you, than anything else.

      If a left wing media outlet had done it, you and yours would have been calling for blood.

      Me I'm just calling for them to loss their licence to broadcast. Because the public good, out does political point scoring every day of the week.

    • newsense 11.4
      21 February 2023 at 2:43 am

      I mean spot on-

      I can always get a channel to tell me what I want. If Fox isn’t as deranged, I can get Newsmax or some other pile of hot crap…hot isn’t hot, wet isn’t wet, tobacco is a pleasant smell and it works largely as a health tonic.

      The harm principle is supposed to be near and dear to liberal hearts, and here, as with the pandemic, the BS is dangerous and causing harm. Media should be free, but not to cause damage.

      Media carries an important duty to inform, otherwise it’s just propaganda or worse.

    • Incognito 11.5
      21 February 2023 at 8:31 am

      If you are worried that people are being fed disinformation then present the actual facts as you see them on the competing media.

      Nope, that’s not the way it works and you are conflating facts and opinions/ideas. Facts are not trophies that are won in/by competition, which is a moronic idea that begs the question why you’d even contemplate this let alone say it here on a free public forum!?

      STANDARD 6 – ACCURACY

      Broadcasters should make reasonable efforts to ensure news, current affairs and factual content:

      • is accurate in relation to all material points of fact
      • does not materially mislead the audience (give a wrong idea or impression of the facts).

      In the event a material error of fact has occurred, broadcasters should correct it within a reasonable period after they have been put on notice.

      https://www.bsa.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/BSA-Code-of-Broadcasting-Standards-Screen_FINAL.pdf

      Point 6.4 specifically refers to talkback and one could argue that Newstalk ZB reporting was “materially misleading with respect to any facts” [@ 6.1].

      The weakness in this system is the delay in correction, if any, which is kinda the critical issue in the context of a national emergency and it could have put people’s lives at risk. Such risk was, in fact, highly likely and predictable given that 4 people had died in (the) floods only 2 weeks prior.

  12. Mike the Lefty 12
    20 February 2023 at 11:52 am

    Hail the everlasting know-it-all Mike Hosking.

  13. roblogic 13
    22 February 2023 at 4:17 pm

    Scathing editorial in the ODT. If the storm isn’t happening in our studio in Auckland,!is it even real?

    https://twitter.com/nettieg3/status/1628220316299448320?s=46&t=KT133s1UWaUIazF2V5RhAQ

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Anzac Commemorative Address – Dawn Service, Gallipoli, Türkiye
    Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia.   Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago

  • PM announces changes to portfolios
    Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • New catch limits for unique fishery areas
    Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Minister welcomes hydrogen milestone
    Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Urgent changes to system through first RMA Amendment Bill
    The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Overseas decommissioning models considered
    Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Release of North Island Severe Weather Event Inquiry
    Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Justice Minister to attend Human Rights Council
    Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order.  “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Patterson reopens world’s largest wool scouring facility
    Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Speech to the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective Summit, 18 April 2024
    Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing  At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin    Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho    Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today.    I am delighted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government to introduce revised Three Strikes law
    The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New diplomatic appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions.   “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says.    “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Humanitarian support for Ethiopia and Somalia
    New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today.   “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Arts Minister congratulates Mataaho Collective
    Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale.  “It is good ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Supporting better financial outcomes for Kiwis
    The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Trade relationship with China remains strong
    “China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says.   Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • PM’s South East Asia mission does the business
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-04-25T06:55:46+00:00