McCully caught in mining conflict

Written By: - Date published: 6:36 am, February 23rd, 2010 - 94 comments
Categories: Conservation, corruption, Mining, national/act government - Tags: , ,

Heedless to all opposition, the Government is driving ahead with its plans to open up our National Parks and other protected environments to mining. The excuse, that this destruction and exploitation of our natural environment will make us wealthy, is laughable. The only ones to win will be National’s mining mates, and National ministers with mining interests.

The Standard can now reveal that Murray McCully has shares in a company that stands to benefit directly from National’s mining policy. As a member of Cabinet deciding this policy McCully has a significant conflict of interest.

The company that McCully has a stake in, according the the MPs’ Register of Pecuniary Interests, is Widespread Portfolios (almost sounds like a front company for a Bond villain, eh?). Far from being “widespread”, its investments are exclusively in mining and oil. These include New Zealand-based mining operations.

Its subsidiary Widespread Energy is a petroleum and phosphates company. It owns prospecting permits over land north of Lake Brunner in the South Island and large areas of the seabed. Widespread Energy and Widespread Portfolios have jointly applied for a permit to prospect for phosphate on the Chatham Rise. The phosphates are found around hydrothermal vents – unique and fragile ecosystems that we are barely beginning to understand. They are the basis of some of our most important fisheries.

Mining will annihilate these ecosystems. As of June last year, McCully’s companies were lobbying Crown Minerals to develop “suitable” rules for undersea mining.

Widespread Portfolios describes Widespread Energy as “our most exciting investment“. And why not? The mining conservation land policies being pushed by McCully and Cabinet could see its profits go through the roof. Profits that will eventually find their way into McCully’s pocket.

Another company is Glass Earth, a mineral exploration company. It is currently focused on hunting for gold deposits in Coromandel, the Central Plateau, and Central Otago. Much of the land it wants to get at is in National Parks and other protected lands.

McCully is a member of the cabinet making vital decisions on the protected status of these lands. If the government he is a member of opens the floodgates for mining on protected land, McCully’s investments in Glass Earth will really pay off.

McCully has some serious questions to answer:

  • In what ways has the Government’s mining policy benefited Widespread Portfolios and its subsidiaries?
  • Did McCully declare his conflict of interest at any point; if so, when?
  • Did he seek advice from the Cabinet Office; if so, what was that advice?
  • Has McCully sold the shares; if so, when?
  • Is McCully hiding any other conflicts of interest behind his trust?
  • Do any other Ministers or Government MPs have shares in mining companies that stand to gain from National’s plans? I count 46 National and ACT MPs with trusts. It’s time the public knows what is hidden in them.
  • And if  McCully has sold his shares in Widespread Portfolios in the wake of Key’s uranium share revelation, when exactly did he sell them?

94 comments on “McCully caught in mining conflict ”

  1. tc 1

    Watch him brush this off with typical arrogance that he portrays in foreign affairs, supercity and rugby wc 2011 issues …..while the MSM sit obediently wating for their masters command……wait….good boy….now rollover and play dead…..good MSM here have a biscuit.

  2. gitmo 2

    Why don’t you just call for all government ministers to have no shareholdings whatsoever in anything …… that’s the only way you chaps will ever be happy.

    Is mining the bogeyman for 2011 ?

    • Marty G 2.1

      In the Roman republic it was considered unseemly for senators to own shares.

      I don’t see why MPs shouldn’t be required to reveal what’s in their trusts. And personally, if I was them, I wouldn’t be owning shares while I was a minister.

      But I see you haven’t denied the conflict of interest, gitmo, so that’s something.

      • gitmo 2.1.1

        You am retard

        • Lanthanide 2.1.1.1

          I don’t know what you’re trying to prove by that ‘comment’. I suspect it hasn’t worked out for you, though.

        • Bright Red 2.1.1.2

          looks like gitmo wants some time in the naughty corner, lynn.

          actually, hard to believe this is gitmo.

          [lprent: No – it is gitmo albeit a gitmo who seems to have suffered a cerebral infraction of some kind in the writing centres. However with some nurturing, he may come back. ]

    • Clarke 2.2

      Is mining the bogeyman for 2011 ?

      Nope, it’s targeting corrupt and self-serving Ministers. And right now, there’s a nice long list ….

    • Eric C. 2.3

      I reckon MPs can own what they like as long as they are up front about it. If they aren’t, then they run the risk of looking like they are using their power to feather their own nests.

      Just checked how McCully described this company in his interests and he calls it an “investment company”, which while true, isn’t very up front given this government’s focus on mining in conservation areas.

      This kind of stuff happens in Pacific Island governments all the time. New Zealand’s aid programme funds courses to stop the behaviour. Maybe they should run some courses at the Beehive too.

      • Richard 2.3.1

        I reckon MPs can own what they like as long as they are up front about it. If they aren’t, then they run the risk of looking like they are using their power to feather their own nests.

        I think that while MPs should be able to own stuff, there should be a strong message that they cannot personally and individually benefit from their decisions.

        Murray McCully is neither minister for conservation or energy/mining. So that is something.

        However, as the original commentator points out he is a member of a cabinet making significant decisions about issues that affect his investments. He should thus either recuse himself from making decisions on these issues, or divest himself of the shares.

        • Herodotus 2.3.1.1

          Does your comment hold gfor any politician owning a house outright, within a trust or some other form of ownership. As any decision regarding property tax, LAQC, benefits or earnings the MP’s should be excluded as they have a vested interest as well?
          If we take this down to 1st principles then we will end up with our politicians replicating the Spartan empire with no ownership or ability to earn money, eating and living within their “club houses”.

  3. luva 3

    Ohh goody

    We are going to start digging through National MP’s shareholding. How succesful was this boring tactic in the ’08 campain. Answer …not very.

    When will you people learn what turns off swing voters

    • Captain Rehab 3.1

      Yeah cause you’re the expert on swing voters luva. Nothing to see here. Move along.

    • Marty G 3.2

      I think politicians out to enrich themselves turns off swing voters.

      But I take it you agree this is a serious conflict of interest, you just don’t want to talk about it.

    • Clarke 3.3

      When will you people learn what turns off swing voters

      That sums up the NACT attitude beautifully …. it doesn’t matter how corrupt a Minister is providing it doesn’t negatively impact the polls.

      Honesty? Integrity? Aren’t those the new Honda models?

    • So you are happy for ministers to personally benefit from government decisions?

      Are you being serious?

      • sean14 3.4.1

        Did any ministers in the previous Labour Government join Kiwisaver and claim the $1000 kick start payment?

        • Lanthanide 3.4.1.1

          The difference is that any citizen in NZ could join Kiwisaver and benefit from the $1000 kickstart.

          Not any citizen in NZ will benefit directly from these mineral companies making profits as a result of National’s new policies.

          Also the parliamentary pension plan is far better than kiwisaver anyway.

          • Bob 3.4.1.1.1

            Except most Kiwis have access to what is it … $38. So they have as big a chance as the MP that sparked this little hissy fit.

        • sean14 3.4.1.2

          And no, I’m not saying that because one side did it it’s okay for the other side. Rather that government ministers make decisions on a daily basis that impact the country that they are necessarily a part of.

          Therefore the idea that government ministers can be completely free of conflicts of interest is a nonsense.

          • sean14 3.4.1.2.1

            As any citizen can buy shares in a mining company.

            • Bright Red 3.4.1.2.1.1

              no. That is not the same as joining kiwisaver or, say, voting for tax cuts. There is a specific interest for a limited class of people in the decision and mccully was in that class.

              mccully already owned the shares when taking part in the decisions that made them worth more.

              • Akldnut

                Also McCully would have been privvy to policy direction of a Nat led govt whilst he was in opposition. He is now hiding it behind a veil of tust owned shares in a Mineral Exploration Investment Company.
                Insider trading anyone?

    • vto 3.5

      It is not about voters actually luva luva. An issue such as this cuts to the heart of good governance. Nought to do with elections (tho of course some will use it to try to score points against political opponents).

      There must be no conflict of interest. At all.

      If a minister has an interest in an issue being decided by Cabinet then that minister must stand aside and take NO PART in the decision making. Whether Key’s lot or Clark’s lot – no difference.

      This is the most basic of conventions. Perhaps you have some learning to do.

  4. winston smith 4

    so Helen Clark never had any residential property investments at the time her government made decisions affecting rental housing????

    And Jeanette Fitzsimons had no shares in wind technology while she was hyping wind power????

    Look to your own houses, Eddie, before you covet others’

    • Marty G 4.1

      So, you agree that McCully has a conflict of interest? You must, because you are excusing it on the grounds of other supposed conflicts of interest.

      Fitzsimons was never a minister. Clark should have excluded herself from any decision that impacted on landlords.

    • Clarke 4.2

      “They were doing it, so we did it too!” – an argument unworthy of a child. My six year old daughter knows better than that. It’s a pity your Ministers lack the moral backbone of a six year old.

    • Marty G 4.3

      btw, Winston Smith. Orwell would love the irony of your handle. A rightwing reactionary coopting his symbolism.

  5. 350ppm 5

    Looking forward to Jim Mora having a amiable chat with Jane Clifton (Mrs McCully) about this on National Radio next week. They seemed to have overlooked it yesterday afternoon…

  6. Nick 6

    Someone granted Pike River Coal a mining licence in a conservation estate on the West Coast a few years ago.

    Now, who was that?

  7. Janice 7

    Yesterday Jim Mora had both Joanne Black and Jane Clifton on his Panel. I long ago stopped buying the Listener because of the Nat propaganda these two were allowed to publish on behalf on their partners or their partners’ boss. Jane Clifton (Murray McCully’s partner) was extolling the benefits of past mining and need to mine now to get the country going, and how unobtrusive and non-invasive modern mining techniques really were. It is really sick how the toxic sticky fingers are infecting so many aspects of our lives to enrich the few.

    • vto 7.1

      Regarding the risk of mining in sensitive areas, how about this for an idea to stymie…

      Take the Red Hills in Mt Aspiring area. A target for mining. Somebody should apply for a resource consent over that area before the mining juggernauts do. Apply for a resource consent for something non-mining – say, to protect and preserve certain flora and fauna; or take guided hikes over that area; or etc.

      That way the area is already taken and the miners dip out.

      Been thinking on this for a while. It fits the RMA. There is nothing in the RMA which states that resource consents can only be used for commercial purposes.

      BEAT THEM AT THEIR OWN GAME …

      plus it can be applied all over the place to all sorts of activities.

      • sk 7.1.1

        Unfortunately the Mining Act dominates the RMA. In the Save Happy Valley decision the Environment Court concluded that while there were significant adverse effects, they did not have jurisdiction to stop the project. That will be the case with any mining projects that the governments wants to go ahead in national parks

    • sk 7.2

      This nonsense over modern mining techiques keeps getting repeated and repeated. Anyone saying that should be frog-marched to Macraes mine in Otago, and made to look down the hole (maybe Jim and Jane could do the show next week from the bottom of the mine). Truly shocking .. . How can a huge hole, slag heaps and hundreds of truck movements a day be ‘unobstrusive’.

      New Zealand needs growth strategies that leverages off our under-utilised human capital. These mines employ 50-100 people at most, the majority of which are truck drivers. No disrespect, but that is not going to deal with the prolonged economic slump that we are facing

      • Richard 7.2.1

        They need not be frog marched to it – just have a look at Google Earth. You get a really good view of it from space.

        • sk 7.2.1.1

          You are right. Thanks. People need to understand give ore concentration in NZ that this is what we will be talking about

  8. Nick 8

    Does Steven Joyce own Telecom shares? If so, is that why he is refusing to become involved in the XT dramas?

    Does Phil Heatley own Fletcher Building shares? Is that why he is so keen on promoting more statae houses?

    *yawn*.

  9. lprent 9

    The interesting question today will be is John Key is ‘relaxed’ or ‘concerned’ over McCullys interests in pushing mining into fragile ecosystems.

    My pick is that he will be ‘concerned’ – mainly because if he has to give up his mining shares, then why shouldn’t McCully 😈

  10. Brett 10

    I realize anti mining is the flavour dejour and I can understande why the Greens are getting worked
    up but I don,t quite understand the issue with Labour.
    Opening up some of the conservation land to mining would inject such much needed money into the system to help pay for such policies as working for families while also creating more jobs for “blue collar” workers – The traditional Labour voter.

    • lprent 10.1

      The problem for you is that Labour voters are generally as concerned about the future prospects for their kids as they are about the immediate future. History has shown them that once you screw the ‘commons’, in this case, conservation land for the benefits of a privileged few, then it never comes back again.

      Sure they will say that it is ‘temporary’, is ‘surgical’, and can be ‘restored’. However none of those things ever come true. The companies will bankrupt themselves rather than make good on promises. Sequestrated funds will be grossly insufficient because to pay for the true cost of cleanup they wouldn’t make a profit. Incidentally, just ask the Maori about what they think about those excuses for theft. But kiwis generally are aware of this as well – apart from the few who are brain dead.

      The simplest way to make sure that common conserved land is there for your kids, grandkids, great grandkids etc to enjoy is to make sure that they aren’t consumed by some greedy profit taking resource exploiters and their NACT sock-puppets.

      • Pascal's bookie 10.1.1

        Kinda related angle..

        schedule 4 land is circa 15% right?

        So why the focus on that? There is plenty of unprotected land available. Are we to believe that there are no minerals under private land?

        Why is crown land the target for mining co’s?

        A: It’s cheaper.

      • Neil 10.1.2

        ” However none of those things ever come true.”

        “ever”??

        Port Waikato ironside mining has continual revegetation. There are plenty of examples of mine/landsscape restoration that have worked well.

        there have been bad cases as well but you can’t make such a blanket statement.

        You might find that many people will look at this on a case by case basis without that dogma glasses.

        you use a computer – you use resources that have been mined.

        • Armchair Critic 10.1.2.1

          Mine restoration is like reparations for crime.
          The majority of crimes result in no reparations. The majority of mines have had no restoration.
          The effects of the crime are still felt after the reparation is made. The effect of mining is still felt after the restoration is complete. Things are never the same, and never as good.
          Your position on mining is, in essence, the same as saying crime is okay as long as reparations are made. It is not okay.

        • Mach1 10.1.2.2

          Neil, I spent far to long at Waipipi, an iron sand mining operation in the southern Taranaki, and the mining and re-vegetation has taken the ‘dune lake country’ and turned it into flat pasture.

          The mining actually converted rolling contoured well sheltered land with its own systems into windswept paddocks that the cockies struggle to keep enough grass on.

          And now that it’s been knackered as productive the owners are chopping it up and flogging coastal living to people, who, after a couple of years worth of La Nina westerlies, work out that it’s far to windy and a shit of a place to live.

    • Smokie 10.2

      Doesn’t look like to me that Labour have said anything on this at all. So you might be right Brett.

    • Red Rosa 10.3

      Big difference between DoC land in general, and Schedule 4, National Parks.

      DoC has fallen heir to huge tracts of the high country, much it weed covered and effectively abandoned by the runholders. If there is to be mining (presumably mining can’t be condemned outright) then in some places it might not be a blot on the landscape or a menace to those downstream. But these places would require full democratic scrutiny.

      National Parks and Schedule 4 mining? Gotta be joking. Make us an international mockery.

    • Watermelon 10.4

      gripe #1, It is not “dejour”, but “du jour”

      gripe #2, have you even read the Department of Labour’s SkillsInsight report on the mining sector?

      Well you can’t as it has been pulled off the website, but you can read the cached copy from google: http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:XBQ2tp10A8UJ:dol.govt.nz/services/LMI/tools/skillsinsight/snapshots/mining/index.asp+department+of+labour+mining+sector&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz

      (As an aside, why was it pulled off? Anyone knows?)

      Here’s the Overview and Summary:

      “OVERVIEW
      Mining is a small industry in terms of employment in New Zealand with approximately 5,300 workers (or 0.25% of the total workforce) in the June 20091 quarter. Currently there are 600 active mining operations in New Zealand2. In addition to the core workers of the industry, approximately 8,000 people are indirectly employed as suppliers of goods and services, according to the New Zealand Minerals Industry Association.

      SUMMARY
      In 2008 a report published by the Department of Labour4 in consultation with the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) indicated that there may be skills shortages within the Taranaki oil and gas industry over the coming years. With a number of oil and gas fields recently commencing production, skills shortages could lead to future constraints on industry production and growth. Although the mining, oil and gas production industries are small in terms of total employment, anecdotal evidence suggests it is unlikely these future skills requirements will be met from training within the New Zealand labour market. A number of skilled oil and gas industry workers are from overseas as they tend to be employed by multi-national oil and gas companies.”

      So, very small amount of people employed, and skills shortage in NZ would mean importing labour instead of employing “Traditional Labour voters”. Hardly going to help now is it?

      • Watermelon 10.4.1

        The DoL’s SkillsInsight Report on the Mining sector has now been removed from the “Recent Publications” List. Maybe I shouldn’t have emailed them asking why it had been removed but still showing in that list.

        It is just like it never existed, except for the google cached version.

        Captcha: preventing, is it trying to tell me something?

    • Armchair Critic 10.5

      I thought people were getting worked up about mining on conservation land, rather than straight out mining. There has to be some mining to maintain the society we live in, quarrying, for example, and the issue is determining where is the best place to mine. There is so little conservation land left, every acre lost has an impact.
      Is the problem that mining privately owned land is more difficult than mining conservation land because it must be purchased from a private owner, which means the loss in value on the land can not be borne by the taxpayer, i.e. the costs can’t be socialised? Or is it that privately owned land that is suitable for mining is generally held in many titles and it takes too much time and effort to negotiate with all the owners, i.e it is too difficult to make a quick buck?
      My concern is that if the answer is “mining on conservation land” then the question must have been pretty dumb. Surely there are better ways to create jobs and earn foreign exchange.
      Since you suggested it – I would like to see some links or analysis showing that WFF needs mining on conservation land to be affordable. Primarily because I think that assertion is unsupported. But if you have something please post it.

      • Mach1 10.5.1

        If Federated Farmers thinks it has problems dealing with Transpower then they’ll be squealing when the prospectors turn up at the gate because, IIRC, minerals belong to the state and the legislation concerning access and rights isn’t on the side of the landowner.

        captch; powers, draconian I think.

    • How about the Waitakere Ranges. The nats have been trying by stealth to
      undermine the current legislative protection.

      Can it be that they want to mine for gold on Auckland’s doorstep?

  11. Mach1 11

    Lapindo Brantas sums up everything that’s wrong about mining.

  12. Mach1 12

    Lapindo Brantas is an Indonesian oil and gas exploration company, a subsidiary of the Bakrie Group, owned by the Minister for the People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie and his brothers

  13. Brett are you trying really hard to be stupid or are genuine with your statement “I don,t quite understand the issue with Labour and minning”.

  14. gobsmacked 14

    The usual diversion tactics are being used on this thread. Don’t fall for them.

    It’s not about mining. An informed, transparent debate about the merits of mining is fine. But this isn’t the issue here.

    It’s about a clear conflict of interest. As clear as it gets. McCully must be held to account on this.

    Whether the investment is in something we personally like or dislike is irrelevant. It’s a Minister making decisions affecting his investment that are THE issue.

  15. reddy 15

    So who else has shares in these companies?

  16. reddy 16

    Does someone with a better memory want to do the count and refresh our definition of corruption?

    Benefitting many National MPs

    Tax increases on GST but not on property: tick
    Tax cuts for the higher brackets: tick
    Mining conservation land: tick
    Unelected friends who now run Auckland and are setting themselves up to do all the Auckland Transport: tick
    Ditto Canterbury RC: tick

    Shares in Aussie insurers who want to do work place insurance: hmmm
    Shares in Private prisons: hmmmm (Act MP Garrett hasn’t denied getting Wackenhut the US prison company funding for his lobby group)
    Shares in private Auckland’s water: hmmm well we know hide wants to and has the opportunity in the supercity.
    For starters…help me out here. What have I missed?

    All this is part of a big transfer of wealth- our collective wealth to a few.

    MINING CONSERVATION LAND IS AN ASSET SALE.

    It takes the land with massive intrinsic value from all of us and sells it to a private few.

  17. Angry Bored 17

    When the last giant snails shell is crushed,
    When the last wry-bill is still,
    When the last long finned eel’s home is dammed,
    What will then suffice to satisfy the greed of money men?
    What then will be found for their ravenous appetite?

  18. Scott 18

    Happy to see the Nats being skewered, but I’m not sure whether this is the killer blow.

    Do we know whether McCully even still owns these shares? The Register of Pecuniary Interests linked to is over a year old.

    “I count 46 National and ACT MPs with trusts. It’s time the public knows what is hidden in them.”

    I’m guessing that in most cases what is “hidden” in them is their family home. Quite a few Labour MPs have trusts too 🙂

  19. reddy 19

    unless of course they have little value until lucrative mining in national parks are granted to them and ding! ding! a potential insider trader profit.

    • Scott 19.1

      McCully says the shares are worth $31. I don’t think he’s expecting a windfall profit any time soon.

      McCully has said the share parcel is so worthless he’s finding it hard to find a buyer and will probably give them away.

  20. Herodotus 20

    Is there anyone out there who can confirm Scott’s claim tha these shares are worth only a few dollars. If there are then sorry chaps, especially Eddie then this post is no better than some tabloid publication and that for me you have continued the reason for the demise of the left. If the ownership is material then there is a basis of this, but please how about ascertaining the level of ownership as I am confortable with a few $000 ownership of shares and that this ownership would not affect any decision making by a minister. I would take silence in this matter that the ownership is of a few $$.

    • Scott 20.1

      The shares do appear to be worthless. The share price is listed on the company’s website, and McCully told Checkpoint how many shares he owned. It is unlikely he would lie about the number he holds, because it would be easy enough for someone to check the share register.

      But Eddie was right to ask questions, because until McCully spoke out we didn’t know what the value of his holding was. McCully has now agreed to get rid of the shares, which is about as much of an admission of wrongdoing as you can get – even if the offence is a relatively trivial one. But combine it with the mismanagement of other ministers (Key’s uranium shares, Heatley’s and Brownlee’s credit card abuse etc) and it starts to tell a story about how competent this government is.

    • Lew 20.2

      Bollocks. Conflict of interest is conflict of interest. It’s just as Scott says — there’s no actual wrongdoing here, but this is politics: the appearance of wrongdoing matters.

      L

  21. DavidW 21

    Right Lew, just the same as the appearance of irrational, dog whistling, ignorant bias on the part of some blog posters and commenters. It is probably not there but phew … just look around at how it looks.

    • Lew 21.1

      DavidW, once you find yourself arguing the merits (“it was only $31” or “I did not inhale” or whatever), you’ve already lost. That’s my point.

      L

  22. DavidW 22

    No Lew, you have got me wrong. But if you need me to spell it out in words of one syllable for you I will.

    There was total clarity over McCully’s investment. These is no conflict of interest under any rational definition of the term.

    But if you want to see a real case of conflict that was vigourously defended on this blog at the time, have a review of the threads about Winston Peters. One of the defences used was that the racing industry donations were legal and that the sums (hundreds of thousands of dollars) were insufficient for concern over conflicts.

    Those who have posited that it is impossible to have a parliament where there is no conflict real or apparent have a fair point. What you need though is a rational and educated public who can judge the relative forces at play and subsequently vote accordingly. That Lew is where people will disagree and where entrenched positions are of little value to anyone.

    • Lew 22.1

      There are some words of more than one syllable in there DavidW.

      What I’m trying to say, and I’ll try to constrain myself to simple concepts, too, is that any appearance of misdeed is fair political game. Politicians who fail to be like Caesar’s Wife deserve what they get. So it was with Paintergate, so it is now. No merit whatever to the allegations, but they took their political toll noetheless. So it also was with Taito Phillip Field case, which was a legitimate case of shady dealing, and was duly punished by the courts in addition to the political fallout, which would have resulted even if Field was acquitted of every charge.

      L

  23. DavidW 24

    Sorry about using long words Lew, sometimes they are necessary in the interest of brevity.

    I don’t think we are miles apart, but I think where we might differ is the in the intensity of the spotlight we shine on these “servants of the public”. They are not rock stars and they are certainly not rewarded commensurate with the publicity and attention they garner. Their private lives are scrutinised and it is as if we put them in charge of the country then don’t trust them to get on with doing exactly that. Their rubbish bins are inspected and every word they utter is recored and screened for inconsistency.

    At the end of it all I actually get heartily sick of the profile of politics in New Zealand – it is as if we have nothing else to take our interest. I note that Australia did not used to have this level of commentary (or it didn’t when I lived there about the turn of the century) but since Rudd came on the scene, it has become the dominant news there as well.

    Perhaps it is a function of the times we live in or one of the technology available but oh, how I wish politics would take second place for a week (well for a reason other than a disaster obviously).

    • Lew 24.1

      Fair enough. There is a “total war” aspect to modern politics which I don’t think is entirely healthy, but it’s much less healthy when only one side is doing it than when both sides are. The reason is as my colleague Pablo expressed last week: a government is only as good as its opposition forces it to be. Inasmuch as the opposition declines or fails to hold a government to account, that government has an incentive to be slack or ill-disciplined and enact shoddy policy, because they can get away with it. So I’m all for arming both sides, having the most rigorous political debates possible, and may the best team win.

      While I do have a particular side which I generally tend to support, I don’t want them to win just by turning up: I want them to have to work their guts out to win, and to be punished brutally for failing to do enough to win. That way I know that I’m getting the best out of them. For this reason, my sharpest political criticism is directed at those who just want their team to win, without them having to try.

      L

      • r0b 24.1.1

        Fair enough. There is a “total war’ aspect to modern politics which I don’t think is entirely healthy, but it’s much less healthy when only one side is doing it than when both sides are

        Sad, but true.

  24. DavidW 25

    Fair ’nuff Lew, let the games continue, (can’t say “commence” for obvious reasons)

    Oh and BTW I do believe in the concept of materiality.

    And I know that one can’t be a little bit pregnant, but you can get a little bit pissed without being fallen down drunk.

    antyi-spam word = drink WTF

    • Lew 25.1

      True. But like the cop from Rhythm & Vines is currently finding out, in some circumstances even one drink is too many.

      L

  25. DavidW 26

    Oh and the “total war” aspect, you don’t have to be old like me to remember the peace (albeit strained) created by MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). The war never got past chilled and the world is a better place for it.

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  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    32 mins ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    1 hour ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    9 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

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

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