Ryan Bridge: Winston was always going to turn on Luxon

This was always going to happen - the closer you get to the election, the more your friends become your enemies under MMP.

Winston's office released OIA docs showing Luxon's people wanted to go further in supporting Trump's war in Iran.

Rt Hon Winston Peters: Oxford Union Debate speech

[Speech delivered in the Oxford Union debate in the affirmative of the proposition ‘This House Believes That the Courts Now Undermine Democracy’. NB:  the speech content is for the purposes of contesting the debate and is not an official statement of Government policy.]

Good evening.

This is a crucial debate because we live in testing times. Trust in core democratic institutions is in sharp decline across western democracies. The mystique that once shrouded long-standing institutions such as presidencies, prime ministerships, legislatures as well as the courts has lifted, leaving them diminished in the eyes of those they serve, the people.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 21/10/24

Don’t forget the Paddle Ferns, while saluting Kiwi sports teams’ weekend triumphs – and please note Peters’ success in Thailand

Our sports teams did the country proud over the weekend.

Besides holding on to the America’s Cup and winning the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, our teams beat Aussie netballers (here in Wellington) and Indian cricketers on their home turf.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 1/10/24

New name – and a richer swill – for 20-year-old government fund to help clean up contaminated sites

Oinkers will be heartened to learn the Government has established something that looks like a new trough. Or rather, it has put more swill into an old trough and given it a new name.

Mind you, it’s not the most alluring of names. It’s the Contaminated Sites and Vulnerable Landfills Fund, a source of dosh intended to help councils and landowners clean up historic landfills and other contaminated sites that are vulnerable to the effects of severe weather.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 16/8/24

The govt has struck a blow for flood resilience down south – but the funding was announced by Shane Jones back in 2020

According to RNZ, the minister of climate change- Simon Watts, if we recall correctly – released the Climate Change Commission’s first report assessing the progress of the government’s national adaptation plan.

But there is no mention of the report’s release or what Watts might think of its contents on the government’s official website.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive 6/8/24

Look at what’s happened to the wait list for passports – then imagine something similar in the health portfolio

One nugget of news from the Beehive today sparked a Cabinet-reshuffling idea for the PM, assuming he is serious about reaching the “five major health targets” he and Health Minister announced in March to cap off the government’s 100-day plan.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 12/7/24

An OECD report shows why Seymour is intent on shredding red tape

Our daily monitor of ministerial machinations and Beehive braying has been on the blink for the past week, alas. No, not a technical problem. Rather, a matter of ill-health.

Today we are catching up and herewith record the headlines posted on the government’s official website since we last buzzed on July 4.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 24/5/24

Shane Jones has the zeal, sure enough, but is too busy with his mining duties (we suspect) to be available for climate change job

The hacks of the Parliamentary Press Gallery have been able to chip into a rich vein of material on the government’s official website over the past 24 hours.

Among the nuggets is the speech by Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and a press statement to announce the Government’s vision for the future of minerals and the mining industry.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 6/5/24

Other councils are keen to be next to strike a water deal with govt

Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well.

This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 5/4/24

NCEA and truancy issues are high on the agenda for education ministers while progress is made in replacing Three Waters

The Minister of Education today advised us the Government is to “rephase” the NCEA Change Programme.

The coalition Government is making “significant changes” to the NCEA Change Programme and will delay its implementation by two years.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 5/3/24

Be cheered by the govt’s $20bn transport programme – but then you should ask how much (and how) you will be contributing

Announcing the return of “boot camps” for delinquent Kiwi youths was sure to win headlines for Children’s Minister Karen Chhour.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 5/2/24

Luxon calls for a constructive debate of differences – but his Waitangi audience had jeered his coalition colleagues

Two Māori ministers announced plans to visit Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa this week, two non-Māori ministers announced scholarships to six university students, and the PM delivered a speech at Waitangi where hostility to his government’s Treaty policies was mounting.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 14/12/23

Three Waters legislation will go down the plug early next year – but new govt is still distributing corporate welfare

Going, going – gone.

Or flushed down a legislative plughole, in the case of Three Waters.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 12/12/23

Ministers set about easing up on labour laws and speed limits – but suppliers of building goods must watch what they tell consumers

Don’t get the idea the new government has declared war against all compliance costs.

Some compliance costs, no doubt, will be headed for the dustbin when ACT’s David Seymour gets down to work as Minister of Regulation.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 18/11/23

Government announces $5m. more humanitarian support for war-ravaged Middle East – but will the aid get through to Gaza?

The first statement posted on the government’s official website for more than a week – announcing a further $5 million in humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel – was released in the names of Chris Hipkins and Grant Robertson.

Kate Hawkesby: It stood out how relaxed Hipkins was

I think what stood out for me yesterday when Chris Hipkins was in the studio with Mike for a couple of hours, was how relaxed Hipkins was.  

As the two hours slipped by, he seemed to get more relaxed, leaning back in his chair more and more, taking it easy. I wondered if the Coke Zero hadn’t kicked in, or maybe he was just tired, or maybe he’s just given up.  

I mean don’t get me wrong, I thought he came across well, I think relaxed is good. But I was interested to hear what he backs about his government, and what he was less proud of. MIQ, the debt still owed to them over that and their handling of how to manage that, he thinks they could’ve done that better or differently. 

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 20/9/23

Better-than-expected BoP figures give Robertson something to bray about – but revisions helped, and the deficit is still troubling

The latest balance of payments statistics – providing a broad measure of what the country earns and spends internationally – gave grist to Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s publicity mill today.

The current account deficit narrowed to 7.5 per cent of GDP in the June year compared with 8.2 per cent of GDP in March.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 8/7/23

O’Connor draws attention to CPTPP ministerial meeting in Auckland while the PM flies out for EU FTA signing

Foreign affairs and trade were the focus of the only fresh posts on the government’s official website, since Point of Order’s previous monitoring of what our ministers are up to and how they are spending our money.

Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor announced that in Auckland next weekend New Zealand will host the 7th Commission Meeting of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Point of Order: Mahuta scolds Russia (and mentions democracy).....

.......while PM extends commitment to helping Ukraine

Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has covered a raft of portfolio issues in a speech she delivered to….

Sorry, but we don’t know. The speech notes posted on the Government’s official website tell us neither where or to whom she was speaking.

Point of Order: Mahuta heads overseas...

......(but have non-Maori been left out of her delegation?) while Luxon gushes about Nats’ Three Waters plans

Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s latest travel plans have been posted on the Beehive website today, advising she is packing her bags to travel to Japan and Singapore tomorrow “to strengthen Aotearoa New Zealand’s connections with Indo-Pacific partners”.

But it seems she is strengthening the connections only for some New Zealanders.

The press statement says: