Will consensus building paralyse Ardern?

Written By: - Date published: 7:14 am, October 21st, 2020 - 33 comments
Categories: capital gains, Economy, jacinda ardern, Judith Collins, labour, national, Politics, same old national, tax - Tags:

Jacinda Ardern aims to bet both ways on our future – transforming Aotearoa to rid us of inequality and poverty, and building consensus.

She has won a mandate with her historic, landslide victory but can she do both?

“I have been a consensus builder, but I also need to work with the mandate that Labour has been given,” she said in the aftermath of her electoral win.

I doubt that the two goals are compatible and my bet is that building consensus will win.

A big factor in the election landslide was Labour’s ability to spike National’s primary gun – tax. Ardern went to huge and costly lengths not to scare middle Aotearoa on tax.

While Labour announced a new, higher marginal tax rate on very high incomes (kicking in at incomes over $180k), Ardern unequivocally ruled out the Green Party’s wealth tax. And last year, she ruled out a capital gains tax despite it being the her own Tax Working Group’s main recommendation to address an “unfair and unbalanced” tax system that has produced inequality.

Her staunchness on CGT and wealth tax was Ardern’s way of taking tax off the table as central to the upcoming election. Labour knew from bitter experience that National would scare-monger on tax. Remember that before Covid, National was polling well over 40 percent, despite having a deeply unpopular leader in Simon Bridges.

Third iteration National leader Judith Collins still tried to bet the tax drum, despite Ardern’s many statements to the contrary, that Labour would kowtow to the Greens and bring in a wealth tax.

While Ardern succeeded in dousing the tax issue, it may be a pyrrhic victory as National’s scare-mongering in on tax over generations has again protected the assets of wealthy – no capital gains tax, no wealth tax, only a minor change to the progressivity of income tax.

Ardern is left almost no options to redress the unfair and unbalanced tax system that lies at the heart of inequality and poverty.

When she ruled CGT last year, Ardern said: “We can find, and will find greater ways to achieve fairness in our system. There’s a range of options but I need to go and develop that plan for 2020.”

The 39 percent tax bracket on earnings above $180k will not cut it, in terms of addressing the tax imbalance. It will raise an extra $550m, less half a percent of government revenue. Nothing else has been offered.

Even without having hobbled herself on the tax issue, the economic slump resulting from the Covid response has made social transformation a Himalayan task.

With $58 billion planned to be spent on Covid responses, Treasury forecasts the unemployment rate to double to nearly 8 percent in 2022, net government debt is forecast to hit 55 percent of GDP by 2024 and discretionary spending allowances are cut to almost nothing.

Even before Covid there was insufficient operating allowance to enact the main recommendations of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group report recommendations. The big ticket items to lift benefits by between 12 and 47 percent would have cost an extra $5 billion a year, well out of reach of the pre-Covid operating allowance.

Despite this gloomy financial scenario and the own goals Labour has scored on taxing assets, we shouldn’t lose sight of the multitude of opportunities for Labour given their outright majority.

For example, I look forward to Labour following through on Heather Simpson’s work on reforming the Healthcare system, particularly reducing the absurd number of DHB’s to a realistic number.

Similarly, it will be great to see enactment of the proposals in the Turiki Turiki report initiated by Andrew Little into decolonising the justice system and addressing the appalling Maori incarceration rate. Let’s hope they resist tinkering at the edges and move from a system of fear, punishment and control to one based on prevention and restoration.

It would be great if we developed a roadmap for an alternative aspiration of continuous economic growth – that we built on Grant Robertson’s wellbeing budget so we all work less, consume less and pollute less. Let’s see if Ardern can expend some of her considerable political capital to promote the idea of sufficient income for all, scale back material expectations in favour of more leisure, less stress and more community-activity.

We are still waiting after three years of Labour-led government for a big picture plan for science and innovation. A science-based, rather than an emotion-based, GE policy would also be nice.

Let’s have a proper immigration policy based on what is sustainable and best for Aotearoa. Policy at the moment seems to be based on which lobby group makes the most noise.

Now that the NZ First handbrake has been removed, let’s move on those initiatives they stopped – cameras on fishing boats, feebates for cars, ending three strikes in justice, promoting solar energy, putting in a tax on sugar.

And while we are at it, let’s get a whole lot more serious about waste and pollution. Instead of the Covid recovery fund being blown on shovel-ready roads, what about spending big on such things as a national energy waste plant that turns waste into energy, not just for Aotearoa but for our smaller Pacific neighbours.

Judith Collins foolishly claimed late in the election campaign that obesity was a personal responsibility, exemplifying the difference between National’s philosophy and the progressive side, which sees it as societal problem. But it would be good to develop a policy on obesity reduction so we can address the problem.

The winding back of the backbones of neoliberalism would be welcome – for example, not making our hospitals, universities, public broadcasters and the like operate as for-profit entities; ditching the Fiscal Responsibility Act that hog-ties government spending options and dismantling the market-driven model of our electricity system.

While John Key with his silly flag referendum has made this path a sticky wicket, it would be great to develop Aotearoa’s roadmap to true independence. One day we won’t have a head of state, who not only is born-to-rule but lives on the other side of the world and we can vote for him or her; we won’t have honours system based on class, we will have a country name that reflects our unique culture and yes, we may even have a flag that is unique and properly represents who we are.

Undoubtedly, there are a plethora of other laws and sectors Labour can and should turn upside down. The party has been given a powerful mandate. My question is whether Labour, and Ardern in particular, is willing to do that because of her desire to maintain consensus and not rock the waka.

33 comments on “Will consensus building paralyse Ardern? ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. RedLogix 1
    21 October 2020 at 7:53 am

    foolishly claimed late in the election campaign that obesity was a personal responsibility, exemplifying the difference between National’s philosophy and the progressive side, which sees it as societal problem.

    Which exemplifies the foolishness of the 'progressives' in imagining this is solely a 'societal problem'. This is easily demonstrated; how many people here really want the government to take full responsibility for your personal diet and exercise? Mandated meal plans, strict control of everything you eat, and mass exercise sessions for everyone?

    No-one?

    At the same time it's also obvious this isn't just a 'personal problem' either. It's easy to see how a combination of food industry incentives, relative poverty, and cultural norms combine to steer individuals down unhealthy paths.

    What if we stopped thinking that these kinds of problems (and obesity is just one of many) always had to be framed as EITHER/OR, when in reality they're a much complex class of AND issues? That there is a mutual interdependence between the individual and the society they live in, that each influences the other.

    Politically no-one wants to hear this, it's inconveniently messy, doesn't lend itself to a neat package of slogans, and takes more than three years to negotiate to a workable processes, much less show outcomes.

    My question is whether Labour, and Ardern in particular, is willing to do that because of her desire to maintain consensus and not rock the waka.

    Well yes, if the waka capsises will anyone thank them for this?

    • Ad 1.1
      21 October 2020 at 8:59 am

      Sustainable consensus – even with dairy farmers – will be worth the price of admission.

      They did it with NZSuper, Kiwibank, Kiwisaver, Fonterra formation, China trade deal, Carbon trading, and many more – and are set up to do so with RMA reform.

      This lot can do it.

      • RedLogix 1.1.1
        21 October 2020 at 9:10 am

        If you will indulge me a metaphor, the shoreline is where all the life is, it's where sea, land and air meet and tumble together in a chaotic, messy melding. It’s a place we’re instinctively drawn to.

        The much despised political centre is where the three great political strands also meet, the conservative, the liberal and the socialist. And it's where new life emerges.

        In this next decade the world is entering an entirely uncharted realm, the majority of nations will be ageing and none of the old political models will be well adapted to this inverted demography. Capitalism, socialism and fascism each in their own way are falling short of serving this new, unprecendented reality.

        This will prove one of humanities great evolutionary moments. How do we repurpose the innovative components of liberalism, the distributive power of socialism and the structured order of fascism into a new stable form we have never seen before?

        • Ad 1.1.1.1
          21 October 2020 at 10:02 am

          OMG Red. I'd just go for a surfing metaphor.

          Mostly I just see developed countries printing their way out of this, cresting, cutting back and reading the next wave coming.

          And if that strategy works this time, we really have repudiated the crisis of the 1920s into something new.

          • swordfish 1.1.1.1.1
            21 October 2020 at 5:30 pm

            OMG Red. I'd just go for a surfing metaphor.

            OMG OMG OMG THIS ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Sooooo much THIS !!!

        • Robert Guyton 1.1.1.2
          21 October 2020 at 11:04 am

          I agree with RedLogix. Life thrives at the edges. It transmutes also; new forms emerge at a rate far greater than on the dunes or in the ocean depths. The new political form, however, won't be a camelopard or a chimera, it'll be something we will all recognise; something/someone from our long-ago past, from the roots of our species; the Goddess Impulse. Her foot-soldier, Jacinda, is already engaged.

          • RedLogix 1.1.1.2.1
            21 October 2020 at 12:30 pm

            Evolution is both conservative and innovative at the same time. It takes bits of what works and arranges them in new configurations, with only a modest amount of novelty.

            • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1.2.1.1
              21 October 2020 at 1:50 pm

              Not always:

              We observe examples of both slow, steady change and rapid, periodic change in the fossil record. Both happen.

              • Robert Guyton …
                21 October 2020 at 1:53 pm

                Seems we smart primates were an extremely novel innovation *peers through plastic spectacle-lenses, taps keys on laptop computer.

    • WeTheBleeple 1.2
      21 October 2020 at 9:52 am

      Well said. Consensus building is more about seeing both sides of an issue than drawing a line in the sand. The only way we stop endless to and fro is sitting down and hashing it out, uncomfortable or not.

      Luckily Ardern is both complex and nuanced.

      Clear and present dangers must be addressed. Her track record for crisis is pretty damn good.

      It is yet to be seen where she will concentrate her efforts. But our PM is both aware and engaged.

  2. Ad 2
    21 October 2020 at 8:54 am

    Simon theres's no need for more fevered leftie wish-lists.

    Just read what Labours policy is.

    That's what they have the mandate to do.

    Pretty simple.

    • Robert Guyton 2.1
      21 October 2020 at 10:59 am

      Jacinda's mandate is to do what Jacinda has been doing. Simple as that.

      Depends, of course, on what you believe Jacinda has been doing.

  3. bwaghorn 3
    21 October 2020 at 9:44 am

    She should hey some guts and make the first $30k tax free and lift benefits by $100 a week and get rid of any nasty in a relationship penalties, make dental free also

    Pay for it by lifting top rates on all income over $100 k

    Do it now while there is 3 years for people to get over it .

    If she wins the next election they become permanent if she loses she gets to spend more time with the family .

  4. Maurice 4
    21 October 2020 at 10:04 am

    Focused 'attacks' on; or disadvantaging of minority groups in society simply leads to the formation of small largely single issue focused Parties.

    The lesson of the Firearms Law changes should be a clear warning of what happens and how successfully a focused push-back can be mounted.

    We now have one of the formative parties of this Parliament formed largely of the "gun lobby" and another Party removed from Government largely by being deserted by that same lobby.

    Every action has an opposite reaction – sometimes quite out of proportion to the initial action.

    • Tricledrown 4.1
      21 October 2020 at 10:56 am

      Maurice your take on reality is inflated .

      Reality Peter's days are finished Nationals vote so low ACT was the only option for a protest vote.Once National find a likeable leader again ACT will go back to being a propped up party.

  5. greywarshark 5
    21 October 2020 at 11:42 am

    edit
    What PM Ardern could do is to invite middle-income NZs to meet in each region and undertake building some simple economic models to show how the country's infrastructure requirements for everything except roads without taxing at rates that are affordable to each wage strata. Let the peeps who are trying 'to have their cake and eat it too' have a go; they are probably looking at raising the money by 'cutting the fat off welfare' spending, and making everyone pay for their education, user-pays libraries etc. NZ seems to be a doing culture, with not much thinking and analysing done each day by even a significant minority.

    Consensus is everyone agreeing to a final decision. I have been told that many meetings that occur now under neolib are apparently a 'sterile promontory' and commitment to consensus by PM Ardern's government will definitely hobble, slow, lead to no-one getting effective outcomes, or even result in such tangles there will be stasis.

    Listening to all the points that the governing policy 'team' from the parties come up with, prioritising matters for best effect, setting up pilots that carry forward the desires of the team that cannot come first on a limited budget, but will make a start on good initiatives – that will prevent paralysis.

    Deciding together what needs to be done, finding synergies between items so that one project completed flows onto another. Prioritising on that basis, virtually recycling one project team if proved capable and successful, that is one possible way to look at stuff.

    Opinions on whether consensus is overhyped:

    Wikipedia as usual has worthwhile input and analysis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus_decision-making#Criticism

    https://theprimes.com/consensus Three points must be ticked, and that is regarded as an agreement on a defined outcome. But: People may say they can live with the outcome, but if they remain significantly dissatisfied, even privately, with either of the first two elements, the dissatisfaction will undermine their commitment and detract from their participation. The result is neither desirable nor affordable when team members must work well together to produce extraordinary outcomes.

    and an engineering perspective talking about 'building clarity' for effective outcomes:

    https://engineering.spreedly.com/blog/consensus-is-overrated-build-clarity-instead.html What we’ve been unintentionally creating the last few years is a loose framework that focuses on exposing a specific set of objective properties about the topic at hand, upon which a consistent set of organization-specific values are applied to produce an actual decision. The framework aims to achieve clarity first, then gives ultimate decision-making authority to the person most responsible for the decision. Here’s the basic approach:…

    This is a small scale example, but significant to the people involved, of Consensus Building leading to a really bad decision but agreed to by all because it was held to be a good outcome from a workshop of teachers keen to follow new methods advocated. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/11/03/idaho-teachers-border-wall-latino-halloween-costume/1872399002/

  6. Draco T Bastard 6
    21 October 2020 at 12:04 pm

    Even without having hobbled herself on the tax issue, the economic slump resulting from the Covid response has made social transformation a Himalayan task.

    Nope.

    This is where the government creating money comes in. The more people unemployed the more that they government can hire with out negatively impacting the economy and thus the more that they can move forward in the transformation.

    The government doesn't tax to fund its spending. It spends to fund the economy.

    …net government debt is forecast to hit 55 percent of GDP by 2024 and discretionary spending allowances are cut to almost nothing.

    Even before Covid there was insufficient operating allowance to enact the main recommendations of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group report recommendations.

    And that is all wrong. A hold over from when there was still a Gold Standard at best.

    The government doesn't need to borrow at all. So why does it?

    The answer to that seems to be mainly to protect the money that the rich have so that they don't lose it.

    Its this ongoing republishing of the wrong data and the wrong ideas about money that keeps people ignorant of how money really works and thus continues to wreck our economy.

    Let’s have a proper immigration policy based on what is sustainable and best for Aotearoa. Policy at the moment seems to be based on which lobby group makes the most noise.

    To have a proper discussion about population and sustainability then we need to determine what is the maximum carrying capacity of the country that includes maintaining a healthy wild area.

    And, yeah, immigration policy seems to be determined by the whinging businesses rather than actual science.

    what about spending big on such things as a national energy waste plant that turns waste into energy, not just for Aotearoa but for our smaller Pacific neighbours.

    The big problem there is when we cut down waste to a small percentage of waste that we have now there won't be any fuel for such a power station and eliminating waste is the better economic answer.

    But it would be good to develop a policy on obesity reduction so we can address the problem.

    Free gyms owned and run by the government (eliminate the dead-weight loss of profit from them) so that everyone has the opportunity to go to one. Throw in some sort of enticement as well and encouragement and we might be able to start to address some of the issues that come from a modern life.

    Then put in standards for healthy food that need to be met.

    The winding back of the backbones of neoliberalism would be welcome – for example, not making our hospitals, universities, public broadcasters and the like operate as for-profit entities; ditching the Fiscal Responsibility Act that hog-ties government spending options and dismantling the market-driven model of our electricity system.

    The market system really only works for small things. The big things like power, healthcare and telecommunications which are necessities should be a state monopoly. This was realised over a century ago when the nation took over building our railways and roads (well, for roads I assume it was actually realised millennia ago). The rise of neo-liberalism and the selling off of these demand monopolies was just a big windfall profit for the rich that cost us huge amounts.

    We need a transformation of our economy so as to eliminate poverty, to stop political power defaulting to the rich and to address environmental issues. The government is presently in a position to do that due to covid trashing BAU. The question is: Will they?

    • Tricledrown 6.1
      21 October 2020 at 1:07 pm

      No DTB the way to increase the govt's tax take is to get inflation going again wages go up leaving the tax bands as they are aka Michael Cullen the tax take will go up automatically.

      Playing the long game as opposed to making radical short term changes does not go well under MMP.

      Any emergency funding required ie further lockdowns should be funded by printing until inflation gets out of control which is very unlikely.

      Printing money should be Done now to keep our $ at a low international value to keep exports viable.

      This money should be pumped into productivity gain projects and poverty aleviation not propping up Banks who are mainly investing in property speculation.

      • Draco T Bastard 6.1.1
        21 October 2020 at 1:32 pm

        No DTB the way to increase the govt's tax take is to get inflation going again

        The government doesn't tax to fund its spending. It spends to fund the economy.

        With the down turn in the economy due to the covid crisis there's a lot of room for government spending without causing excessive inflation. When the government takes up that slack inflation will, of course, return to positive value.

        Playing the long game as opposed to making radical short term changes does not go well under MMP.

        More accurate to say that it doesn't work well under Representative Democracy.

        Printing money should be Done now to keep our $ at a low international value to keep exports viable.

        The government printing money doesn't actually change that. It's the demand for NZ products and services.

        This money should be pumped into productivity gain projects and poverty aleviation not propping up Banks who are mainly investing in property speculation.

        Agreed.

        Propping up banks or, in fact, any private business is a bad idea.

        Poverty alleviation is likely to be tied into the productivity gains especially if they result in development of the economy into areas of industry that have long been neglected.

      • greywarshark 6.1.2
        21 October 2020 at 1:56 pm

        Sounds good Tricledrown. DTB makes good points but yours would fall within the known knowns of the average Kiwi.

        • Draco T Bastard 6.1.2.1
          21 October 2020 at 4:56 pm

          “What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so."

          Mark Twain

          Your known knowns are more likely to fit into the latter category.

  7. Phillip ure 7
    21 October 2020 at 1:10 pm

    Wot draco said ..I have fears ardern will do what clark did with her huge red-tide of support…not do much..just stick to the neoliberal-incrementalist playbook…and whittle/fritter that lead away..and like under clark the poor stay poor..the environment degradation continues space…my blood ran cold when I read that clark/cullen were advising ardern…I sincerely hope she ignores their more-of-the-same mantras..but I fear she won't…(and/but I do look forward to being proved wrong..if that should eventuate..)…with or without the greens ardern..like clark before her..has been given the mandate to fix what is broke…I hope she uses it..and doesn't 'do a clark’ with it..

  8. Tricledrown 8
    21 October 2020 at 1:27 pm

    Clark only had small majorities and relied on Peter Dunne "nothing" and Winston handbrake Peter's.

    • Phillip ure 8.1
      21 October 2020 at 2:02 pm

      Heh..!…in the 2002 election clark called the greens 'goths and anarcho-feminists'…(aah..!..the memories..!..eh..?..)

      • left for dead 8.1.1
        21 October 2020 at 4:26 pm

        @Phillip ure, don't forget last cab off the rank re:Maori party

        • Phillip ure 8.1.1.1
          21 October 2020 at 8:38 pm

          As a sole-parent at the time I was somewhat pissed at myself and my son being condemned/denigrated by clark as being 'the undeserving poor'…and therefor deemed unworthy of any consideration/help….we were just left to rot…hard to forget shit like that…

  9. Muttonbird 9
    21 October 2020 at 4:14 pm

    I don't like the language come from with and without the Labour party about these supposed 'National voters' who voted Labour and how Labour is going to have to look after them by not being too scary.

    Screw that. They're Labour voters now, ffs.

    • froggleblocks 9.1
      21 October 2020 at 5:13 pm

      It's not really that Labour 'have to' look after them, it's that it's in their best electoral interests to look after them.

      They could go hard-left, like how Labour after 1984 went hard-right. But they won't.

      • Muttonbird 9.1.1
        21 October 2020 at 5:51 pm

        That's how a lot of pundits are talking. Don't scare the horses as if they are more important than loyal, lifetime lefties.

        Fuck that. It is they who have joined us, not the other way around.

      • Phillip ure 9.1.2
        21 October 2020 at 8:49 pm

        Can we define 'hard 'left'..?…is fixing poverty/the environment 'hard 'left'…?..is doing s.f.a. 'centrist/consensus-building'..?

  10. Muttonbird 10
    22 October 2020 at 8:09 am

    Jessica Berentson-Shaw describes the two paths in front of Jacinda Ardern.

    Bold visions need leaders to persuade us that the necessary pathway to change, while challenging, is in our best interest. They need to campaign for the transformation that is required throughout their tenure. This is a skill we know the prime minister has at her fingertips. Will Labour put it to use this term? Looking at Labour's last term, they could go either way.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/428807/building-support-for-transformational-policies-crucial-to-labour-s-vision-jessica-berentson-shaw

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • 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
    57 mins 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
    10 hours 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
    13 hours 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
    14 hours 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
    15 hours 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
    15 hours 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
    17 hours 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
    17 hours 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
    18 hours 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
    20 hours 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
    23 hours 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
    24 hours 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 days ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 days 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
    5 days 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
    5 days 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
    5 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago

  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • 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.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    7 days ago

  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    7 days ago

  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago

  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 week ago

  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week 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
    11 hours 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
    13 hours 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
    1 day 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    7 days 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
    7 days 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

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-12-06T16:57:05+00:00