Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive 7/10/22

Our post on pushing for a free trade deal must have influenced Mahuta’s meeting with Indian minister – or maybe not

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has welcomed what she hailed as “an historic visit to Aotearoa New Zealand by the Indian Foreign Minister”.

Your Point of Order team would like to think the invitation to her Indian counterpart was extended after Mahuta read our recent article which argued why Trade Minister Damien O’Connor should be quickening the pace in pushing for a free trade agreement with India

Australia has secured a free trade deal with the planet’s fifth-biggest economy, we pointed out. We should be pressing to do likewise.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive 6/10/22

Māori expertise comes first in shaping ETS for permanent forestry – and policies must be made to work for tangata whenua

The interests of Māoridom are being given special mention in government proposals for forest management through the National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry (NES-PF).

According to the announcement from the Beehive, a group of “Māori and other technical forestry experts” will help redesign the settings of the Emissions Trading Scheme permanent forestry category, so it better supports long-term indigenous carbon sinks.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive 5/10/22

Poto prefers “Piopiotahi” – does this portend “Milford Sound” being purged from promotions, or is perplexity part of the plan?

What’s in a name?

Millions of dollars, when it comes to promoting places like “New Zealand” and “Milford Sound” as international tourist destinations over many years.

But whoa. Our international marketing will need overhauling to deal with the confusion generated by political linguistics.

Our monitoring of The Beehive website today threw up a headline that read:

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive 4/10/22

GP numbers get a Govt boost as our medics (on maternity duties) master the reality that modern-day mums might not be women

The big news on the Beehive website today deals with a government initiative to tackle the shortage of general practitioners in communities around the country.

The remedy calls for an injection of public funding, but no costings are mentioned in the press statement from Health Minister Andrew Little.