Category Archives: Politics
Deborah Hart: Dispute settlement in TPP deal will work well for NZ

Shopprice New Zealand Opponents of the Trans Pacific Partnership have been conducting a brisk trade in criticising the Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanisms in the recently concluded 12-nation deal. The term refers to the critical aspect of the agreement that allows parties to take a case against governments they believe aren’t playing ball. What isn’t
Auckland mayoral race on the starting blocks

Shopprice New Zealand The race for the Auckland mayoralty begins today at a “meet the candidates” outing organised by the Ellerslie Residents Association. It will be the first political debate for Victoria Crone, headhunted by top National Party figures and who entered the contest before Christmas. The 42-year-old businesswoman, who likes to be known as Vic,
Claire Trevett: Unlike Key to throw toys over dildo incident

Shopprice New Zealand At first blush it seemed our Prime Minister had left his sense of humour in Maui over the summer. As the nation tittered over Steven Joyce’s unexpected Waitangi hongi with a certain pink squeaky toy, the Prime Minister had his most serious face on. It took him a day to respond. Presumably
KiwiRail needs $200m a year, Finance Minister says

Shopprice New zealand Finance Minister Bill English says New Zealanders prefer a state-owned rail company to having more trucks on the road. Taxpayers will have to continue to subsidise KiwiRail hundreds of millions of dollars a year to keep it in operation, the Finance Minister says. KiwiRail had not generated the kind of income that
Pubs will open for Rugby World Cup after ACT bill successfully tabled

Shopprice New Zealand ACT leader David Seymour’s bid to allow pubs to open early to show matches flopped on Tuesday when the Green Party rejected it. Having a beer at the pub while watching the Rugby World Cup in the wee hours of the morning has been given the green light. ACT leader David Seymour’s
Maori Party waver on health and safety bill

Shopprice New Zealand Workplace Relations and Safety minister Michael Woodhouse. The Maori Party are wavering in their support for controversial health and safety legislation. Co-leaders Te Ururoa Flavell and Marama Fox have previously voted for the bill. But with the law due to go before Parliament again next week, the Maori Party says it wants
Killing the family pet could become a crime in law overhaul

Shopprice New Zealand Justice Minister Amy Adams has announced an overhaul of family violence laws. Psychological abuse – such as harming a family pet and controlling behaviour – could be considered crimes as part of ambitious plans to tackle domestic abuse. Justice Minister Amy Adams has unveiled a government paper with a range of proposals
Winston Peters jumps into race debate at NZ First party conference

Shopprice New Zealand Winston Peters addresses the faithful at the NZ First convention in Rotorua on Saturday OPINION: Winston Peters flung himself into a race row yesterday, suggesting Samoan-born Sam Lotu-Iiga was qualified to run prisons because he is Polynesian. Only a cynic would suggest he deliberately dropped the inflammatory remarks to generate interest in
John Key optimistic TPP will pass despite collapse of talks

Shopprice New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said New Zealand was fighting its corner over TPPA negotiations. The Prime Minister is “disappointed” the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade deal ground to a halt in Hawaii at the weekend but says he’s not “surprised”. Talks to reach a TPP agreement between 12 countries collapsed on Saturday as
High court bid in wings to shed light on TPP talks

Shopprice New Zealand The deal as it stands for New Zealand dairy farmers at TPP negotiations could mean a backwards step for the industry. Critics of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement say they will go to court to try to force the Government to release more details about the secretive negotiations. Auckland University law professor Jane