Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 26/9/24

Learning our sums from Stanford: $30m (for maths teaching) minus $30m (from te reo training) equals a new education initiative

Associate Education Minister David Seymour – committed to toughening up on the truancy that burgeoned when Labour was running the country – was encouraged by data released today which show increased school attendance in Term 2 of 2024. The numbers he highlighted show 53.2 per cent of students regularly attending school, an increase of 6.1 percentage points compared to the same term last year.

Hmm. Only around half of students regularly go to school.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 7/5/24

Correcting the Corrections announcement – a fiscal farce that should bother the OECD

One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates.

Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 23/1/24

Trade and security are taking NZDF personnel and a Minister to the Middle East – but Yemen is not on the agenda

A Minister and six Defence Force personnel are headed for the Middle East.

Not for the same reason, we hasten to add.

And no-one will be visiting Yemen (all going well).

Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand changes tack in the Gulf

A sign of things to come.

That might be the best way to interpret New Zealand trade minister Damien O’Connor’s recent foray into the Middle East.

O’Connor stopped off in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi on a brief, yet important trip that comes as New Zealand prepares for its October 14 election.