Bryce Edwards: Steven Joyce’s revolving door entry into a $4000/day govt appointment

Former National Government Finance Minister Steven Joyce is being paid $4000 a day to chair the new Government’s “expert advisory panel” on infrastructure. That’s over twice what Prime Minister Christopher Luxon gets, and makes Joyce New Zealand’s highest-paid public servant. At the same time, the former “Mr Fixit” sits on several property development boards as well as running a lobbying consultancy firm.

Joyce’s political appointment is the latest that could have the Government charged with “cronyism” or creating “jobs for the boys”. Other highly paid political appointees include Simon Bridges, Bill English, Murray McCully, and Roger Sowry.

Sir Bob Jones: Pour a drink before reading No! - pour several

Six years ago my normally very healthy partner was suddenly struck down by pancreatic cancer. Before she died she closed her ASB Bank account.

Ever since then numerous letters have arrived from the ASB over her alleged outstanding debt. I’ve done nothing about this, wondering just how long this farce will continue.

Bruce Cotterill: Sir Russell Coutts is right

Sir Russell Coutts is right - Dolphin drama shows we're drowning in red tape

The comments of Sir Russell Coutts in the aftermath of the cancellation of racing on day one of SailGP in Lyttleton should serve as a warning to our country.

For far too long we have had our otherwise massive potential cut down by minority interest groups. People striving for publicity for the narrow little lens through which they see the world and people intent on protecting their own interests. These people are everywhere in this country.

Cam Slater: The Great Big Vaxxed Elephant in the Room

It seems day after day we are seeing news about some person who was apparently healthy being diagnosed with cancer and dying within weeks. Yesterday there was one such tragic article at Stuff.

David Farrar: This is why we need spending cuts

Click to view

This is from the excellent The Facts. The increase in expenditure for Covid-19 was meant to be temporary but since then it has gone up another $44 billion!

Professor Robert MacCulloch: A brighter Future for NZ'ers involves the outright rejection of Labour's Make-the-People-Dependent Doctrine

Although Ardern tried hard to divide Kiwis along every imaginable line for her own political benefit, an inescapable fact is that a profound cultural factor, way bigger than her, unites us all together. We have our roots in making our way through our own industry. When people started to migrate to NZ, whether indigenous or not, they had to depend on themselves, friends and family for survival. There was no welfare state back then. Out of this history, an important part of our culture became the "can-do" attitude - Kiwi ingenuity, the number 8 fencing-wire, practicality - taking calculated risks that many in the Old World had lost. Cut to modern times and this is the current philosophy of the NZ Labour Party, as espoused by its current and former leaders:

Mike's Minute: The Government need less talk, more delivery

There seems to be some debate, or at least questions, around when the Government are going to address the business of Māori seats at local council level.

There is a claim of a leak from within Cabinet that the whole idea is on the back burner. ACT deny it.

Mixed in with that issue is the issue of universities and their various segregated areas depending on race. Even the Prime Minister told us how disappointed he was that this sort of practice takes place.

JC: We Should Be Sailing Away

Who remembers the song “Sailing Away”, the song that became the anthem for our hopes of winning the America’s Cup in 1987? The song, sung to the tune of “Pokarekare Ana” by many local singers and personalities, was number one on the singles charts for nine weeks: a record (if you’ll pardon the pun) held until 2009. If you need reminding, here are the lyrics:

David Farrar: Net taxpayers in NZ

Click to view

So 60% of taxpayers receive more in income support and benefits that they pay in tax. That leaves 40% funding those 60% and the vast majority coming from the top 10%.

It is a useful reminder we have a tax and welfare system which is already highly redistributive.

Brendan O'Neill: We must be free to blaspheme against the gender cult

The sacking of a teacher for refusing to use ‘preferred pronouns’ is a grave assault on freedom of conscience.

So we can now add Britain to the list of countries where you can be sacked for refusing to bow down to the state religion. Only where in Iran it’s Muhammad you must venerate if you wish to dodge officialdom’s long finger of judgement, in the UK it’s the gender ideology. How else to explain the sacking of a schoolteacher for refusing to use a student’s ‘preferred pronouns’. This is a clear case of someone being punished for failing to profess a doctrine, for refusing to embrace a faith. Agnosticism, it seems, is a sackable offence under the gender cult.

Kerre Woodham: The OECD report isn't news

Well, it's news, but it's not really, is it?

An OECD report has found that New Zealand's students are among the worst behaved kids in the world and that bad behaviour has worsened in the last two years. Shock me. A report released this morning by the Education Review Office has called for classroom behaviour to become a priority, and to nationalise the approach to dealing with bad behaviour.

Monday April 1, 2024 

                    ⇩

Professor Robert MacCulloch: What's Eating Ardern?

What's Eating Ardern? Linking NZ's First Female Finance Minister Ruth Richardson's budget to her neighbor's suicide 30 years ago is just awful.

Jacinda Ardern's international PR strategy is being unleashed. She's working on becoming a Great Ambassador for Herself and a Terrible Ambassador for NZ. The more she puts her good self up, the more she pulls NZ down & makes her fellow Kiwis look bad. I've not heard Helen Clark or John Key - our former PMs - upon retirement, ever get stuck into other Kiwis on the world stage. Not so Ardern.

Shane Jones: Jones backs super snapper for economic growth

A new project to breed ‘super’ snapper that are more resistant to disease, grow faster, and can thrive in warmer water could help drive more economic growth through aquaculture, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says.

“The potential here goes far beyond growing a better and more resilient breed of fish, it also supports our efforts to grow and future-proof New Zealand’s aquaculture.

Dr Eric Crampton: Things I'd have hoped we could all agree on

This week's Budget Policy Statement was disappointing.

There are a few things I'd have thought we could all have agreed on. They seem pretty basic.

David Farrar: Hehir on Kainga Ora

Liam Hehir writes:

Ronald Reagan said that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are “I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.”

Fast forward to present-day New Zealand and we have a new champion in the scary nine word category: “We're Kāinga Ora and we are your new neighbours.”

Kevin: So It Is about Acceptance, Huh?

Police are treating the painting over of a rainbow crossing in Auckland this morning as a hate crime.

[…] In a statement, Auckland City Central Area Commander Inspector Grant Tetzlaff said police made a number of enquiries into the incident on Thursday afternoon and founds [sic] some items of interest.

Officers had raided a property in Flat Bush, which was linked to the owners of a vehicle involved, he said.

Dr Michael John Schimdt: Institutions of Apartheid

The University of Auckland in New Zealand was founded in 1883 as Auckland University College, initially serving as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Its humble beginnings were in a disused courthouse and jail, where it started with 95 students and 4 teaching staff. Regretfully amongst these early educators, there was not a historian(1). Even today Auckland University does not have a “History Department” though it does have ‘study options’ for history(2) and the current (2023) situation of ‘segregated study areas’(3) provides ample opportunity for a history lesson, a whole thesis. We don’t have to go back too far in New Zealand history.

Dr Don Brash: Spying - It's what great powers do

There has been fairly predictable outrage this week at the revelation by Judith Collins, the minister in charge of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and Security Intelligence Service (SIS), that China spied on our Parliament in 2021. China has denied the accusation, but knowing Judith Collins as I do – and have done for more than 20 years – I don’t doubt that she has good reasons for her claim.

Sunday March 31, 2024 

                    ⇩