It is time for the ritual handover at the Reserve Bank. Sometime today, Adrian Orr will don the gubernatorial undergarments, drain the Goblet of Knowledge and be led down, down the spiral staircase to confront the Beast of Inflation in its lair, believed to be situated about 50 metres below The Terrace at the exact midpoint between the Treasury and Reserve Bank.
By tradition, only The One may confront The Beast, though there is talk by Finance Minister Grant Robertson of handing some of the job over to a committee – provided its members swear fealty not to publicly disclose any disagreements with The One that they may secretly harbour within their breasts.....More>>
Nurses' Pay Negotiations: A Loud And Clear NO
Following several weeks of ratification meetings nationwide DHB nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants, who are party to the DHB MECA have voted not to ratify the DHB employer offer...More>>
Affordable Housing: Unitec Deal Marks Major KiwiBuild Milestone
The Government has announced the first major development under its ambitious KiwiBuild programme with the purchase of 29 hectares of land for thousands of houses in Auckland.More>>
Gordon Campbell: On A Trade War With China
As things currently stand, the White House has NOT included New Zealand on its list of allies whose steel and aluminium exports to the US will be exempted from US President Donald Trump’s recent hike in tariffs. More>>
A Step Closer: Regional Fuel Tax For Auckland?
Legislation to allow regions to apply for a regional fuel tax, initially for Auckland, will be introduced to Parliament today, Transport Minister Phil Twyford has announced.More>>
SSC Findings: DHB Exec Misused Travel Funds
A State Services Commission investigation into the expenditure of former Waikato District Health Board chief executive Dr Nigel Murray found that more than half of his claims for travel and accommodation were unjustified.More>>
RNZ Explainer: Why You Should Care About Cambridge Analytica
Facebook's shares have lost billions of dollars in value after something to do with data used by Cambridge Analytica. Confused? Here's what it means, and what could come next. Cambridge Analytica is a London-based consulting firm. It is under pressure over allegations it uses illegally obtained data and social media manipulation to influence elections.More>>
Further $700,000: Teacher Supply Initiative Extended
Acting Minister of Education Tracey Martin has announced a further $700,000 to help more teachers into classrooms, with the extension of the Teacher Education Refresh (TER) Programme... More>>
Dotcom v Obama: High Court Declines to Subpoena Obama
The former President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, is in New Zealand for three days. The plaintiffs have filed an application for an order for his examination before a Judge while he is in New Zealand... More>>
Woods Speech: The Transition Away From Fossil Fuels
So, I won’t be announcing Block Offer 2018 today. As the Prime Minister has said, the Government is actively considering this issue, and we’ll have an announcement in the coming weeks...More>>
BusinessDesk - NZ govt planning 'long transition' away from fossil fuels
America's Cup: Agreement Reached On Village Venue
An agreement has been struck on the Auckland waterfront venue for the 36th America’s Cup, including the division of costs and the payment of a hosting fee.More>>
Conservation Win: Mice Eradicated From Antipodes Island
In a world-leading conservation effort, mice have been successfully eradicated from Antipodes Island in the New Zealand Subantarctic, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today... More>>
Transport Tech: Roadmap To Harness $1.5 Bn Sector
A new Future Technology Leadership Group will help New Zealand harness some of the $1.5 billion a year estimated value to the economy from Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) as well as the social benefits they create... More>>
Economy: GDP Rises On Strength In Services
The economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), grew 0.6 percent in the December 2017 quarter, Stats NZ said today. Growth was driven by increases in the service industries but was tempered by falls in the primary sector. More>>
Dolphins In Danger: More measures to protect
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage are accelerating work to improve protection of the nationally endangered Hector’s dolphin, after five were accidentally killed in a fishing net off Banks Peninsula. More>>
Innovative Partnerships:Govt Launches R&D; Programme
Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods has today formally launched the Innovative Partnership programme which aims to attract future-focused international innovators and firms to undertake R&D; and develop their products in New Zealand.... More>>
Planes And Oil: Current Account Deficit Widens To $2.0 Billion
New Zealand's seasonally adjusted current account deficit widened to $2.0 billion in the December 2017 quarter, Stats NZ said today. The $407 million increase in the deficit was mainly driven by New Zealand importing aircraft and other transport equipment, and crude oil. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On Credibility In Politics
Credibility is always such a fickle, unstable element in politics. You know it when you see it, though. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On Winston Peters’ Attempts To Cozy Up To Trump And Russia
The weekend attempts made by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peterson on the Nation TV programme to downplay Russia’s role in the shooting down of MH 17 have already been earning some unflattering coverage across the Tasman. More>>
Video And Report: Cory Doctorow Talks Machine Learning And Big Data
International internet and digital technology commentator Cory Doctorow talked about machine learning and big data at the Privacy Commissioner’s PrivacyLive event on 13 March 2018 in Wellington. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On The #MeToo Movement In Sweden
The #MeToo campaign has been approached by Sweden in an impressively systematic fashion. As Bloomberg News reports, #MeToo subsets have emerged in almost every imaginable sector of Swedish society.. More>>
Binoy Kampmark: Meddling For Empire - The CIA Comes Clean
One of the difficulties behind the podium stance of virtue taken by the US political establishment on Russian interference in the country’s electoral process is one of simple hypocrisy. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On The Gun Debate, Here And In The US
Gun ownership in the US is a mystery to New Zealanders, and so is the constitutional fetish that surrounds it. However, the attitudes involved are not static and unchanging, even if it can feel that way in the wake of each new gun atrocity. More>>
UN Rights Office On Syria: The “Monstrous Annihilation” Of Eastern Ghouta
Since the Syrian Government and their allies escalated their offensive against opposition-held Eastern Ghouta on 4 February, there have been more than 1,200 civilian casualties, including at least 346 killed and 878 injured, mostly in airstrikes hitting residential areas... Ninety-two of these civilian deaths allegedly occurred in just one 13-hour period on Monday. More>>
Cyclone Gita: 70% Of Tonga Population Affected
The full scale of destruction is beginning to emerge from Tonga in the aftermath of the severe tropical cyclone Gita. Around 50,000 people, or almost 70% of the country’s population, have been affected, a third of whom are children. More>>
Gita: Samoas Clean Up After Being Swamped By Cyclone
Apia in the wake of Gita Photo: Rudy Bartley The clean up is continuing in the two Samoas after Tropical Cyclone Gita hit on Saturday morning. More>>
Grand Coalition : Germany's two main political parties set to govern under Angela Merkel.
The liberal-conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) negotiated through the night in a marathon final push to nail down an agreement. More>>
80 Passengers: Kiribati Ferry Disaster
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are working with the Government of Kiribati to support children, families and communities affected by the recent Butiraoi ferry disaster. More>>
Campbell On: the US demonising of Iran
Satan may not exist, but the Evil One has always been a handy tool for priests and politicians alike. Currently, Iran is the latest bogey conjured up by Washington to (a) justify its foreign policy interventions and (b) distract attention from its foreign policy failures. More
Joe Cederwall Review: WOMAD 2018 - Harmony of Difference (part 1)
A friend described WOMAD as his “favourite white middle class celebration of diversity.” There is certainly an echo of truth to this as the crowd is still largely white and middle class, but this WOMAD for me represented that a better world is possible ... More>>
Harmony of Difference (part 2)
Top international world music artists seldom make it down to this neck of the woods, so for those of us into this sort of thing WOMAD is certainly a welcome addition to the cultural calendar. Now it is a case of waiting and looking forward to seeing what they manage to conjure up for next year. More>>
Howard Davis Review: A Bigger Splash - Te Papa Celebrates Twenty Years
Considering the available resources, this is a decidedly hit-and-miss affair, mainly due to some highly questionable curatorial decisions. In their overweening wish to "push boundaries," Charlotte Davy and Megan Tamati-Quennell have made a number of serious miscalculations by ignoring a basic rule - keep it simple. More>>
Max Rashbrooke Review: The King's Singers and Voices New Zealand
To be good at one thing is impressive; to be so versatile across a range of genres is truly exceptional. The latest incarnation of this six-strong male singing group includes Kiwi Christopher Bruerton, and it was a delight to hear him sing the solo on the achingly beautiful My Love Is like a Red, Red Rose. More>>