Dr Oliver Hartwich: From blueprints to building

After many difficult years, 2025 felt different. It was not easier. The economy remained stagnant and the reform agenda demanded hard choices. But attitudes shifted. New Zealand stopped merely diagnosing its problems and started taking practical steps to solve them.

Stephen Franks: Parliament trumps the lawyer/clerics – blow against ‘heritage blight’

What a delight to see Minister Chris Bishop using Parliamentary sovereignty to roll over the heritage numpties. Sound resource management law would have made it unnecessary. Those claiming benefit from the ‘heritage values’ in the Gordon Wilson Flats should have been forced to compensate the losers from planning paralysis in Wellington. Thousands of young people paying exhorbitant rents, and young families forced to commute from Upper Hutt. Just a serious possibility that the decision-makers would have to bear the costs of their decisions would have seen replacement of that building decades ago.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 5/9/24

Foot and mouth – export losses of $14.3 billion a year give govt good cause to commit to stamping out any incursion

We were troubled – briefly – at the prospect of politicians never saying anything improper, outrageous or untoward.

Wouldn’t that give us that much less fodder for the writers who are published on this blog?

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 22/3/24

Forget about what government spending is being cut – take a look at what this spending has done and is doing

Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed into its sails.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 28/6/23

Finding out how $128m is being spent (on universities), who has met our PM (Xi Jinping) and what Robertson didn’t mention

Confirmation of our Buzz report yesterday was recorded on the government’s official website soon after we posted our news.

Yes, the government short-changed the universities on Budget Day and has come up with an extra $128 million funding, over two years, for tertiary education providers for courses at degree level and above.

For good measure, the government will review higher education funding system.

Matthew Birchall: Paying the price for slow progress

New Zealand’s resource management system is a contradictory mess.

At least, that is the impression you get reading a recent report commissioned by the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission on the cost of climate consenting.

Prepared by Sapere Research Group, Infrastructure Consenting for Climate Targets looks at changes to energy and transport infrastructure that may be necessary to reach net zero.

Point of Order: While the PM and O’Connor were announcing VIP visits......

......Mahuta was pouring out some thoughts on the wretched water bill

News of the government hoovering the red carpet for VIP visits and cleaning up the environment by advancing the green cause emerged from the Beehive yesterday, including another announcement of Māori mātauranga being to the fore in the government’s conservation programme.

And there was a speech from Nanaia Mahuta which affirmed the Water Services Entities Bill is a done deal and (she expects) the bosses of the four new co-governed water entities will be appointed before the end of the year.

Point of Order: Govt cheerleaders whoop the good news (at last) of resource management reform

.......but keep an eye on the Treaty’s role

It was rather like listening to ministers crowing about the goodies being distributed to programmes within their portfolios before, on and after Budget Day.

It was the joyous response from a gaggle of cheerleading ministers to the unveiling of legislation to replace the wretched Resource Management Act.

Environment Minister David Parker made the key announcement and summed up its features under these bullet points: