Politics

Iwi groups yet to complete their Treaty settlements will be offered the opportunity to participate in the Government share offer programme, Finance Minister Bill English and Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson say. “This is a result of our constructive engagement with Iwi leaders and their technical advisers,” the ministers say. “It is another example of how direct engagement with the …

New Zealand and China Customs have agreed to work more closely together to combat the smuggling of pharmaceutical products used to manufacture methamphetamine (‘P’). The agreement is the result of talks between Chinese officials and Customs Minister Maurice Williamson during a two-day visit by China Customs. The two customs administrations are also committed to continuing work to advance further growth …

Samoan Prime Minister, Hon Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi visits New Zealand later this week to mark the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship between the two countries. “I visited Samoa in August to mark the anniversary, and I am pleased to host Prime Minister Tuilaepa for a return visit during this special milestone year in our relationship,” Prime Minister John Key said. …

Prime Minister John Key will host the President of the Philippines for discussions on two-way trade and other bilateral matters straight after Labour Weekend (October 22-23) President Benigno Aquino III – visiting NZ for the first time – will be accompanied by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario, other members of the President’s Cabinet and a large trade delegation. …

Green Party co-leader Dr Russell Norman wants the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to launch quantitative easing to lower the value of the New Zealand Dollar. Dr Norman writes “Since the Global Financial Crisis, our major trading partners have engaged in large scale measures that have devalued their currencies” and that “The UK, USA, Japan and the European Union have …

Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce is leading a delegation to India to lift  New Zealand’s profile as a destination for international students and to support NZ tertiary institutions and companies seeking to grow their business in the Indian market. “India is New Zealand’s third largest source of international students with 12,358 students enrolled in courses in …

Foreign Minister Murray McCully is off to Indonesia for bilateral talks, and to attend the Bali bombing 10th anniversary commemorations.   In Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa will host McCully for the 5th annual Indonesia-New Zealand Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC).   “Building on the momentum created by the Prime Minister’s visit to Jakarta in April, we will discuss developments in agriculture …

5:30 AM Wednesday Oct 3, 2012 It has all the trappings of a hit movie – “Johnnie goes to Hollywood” – in which the Kiwi hero tries to inject more lifeblood into the NZ economy while a Great German Hulk flails about claiming New Zealand is in danger because US moguls are conspiring to capture the hero in their net. No …

By Stephen Jacobi So what was actually decided at the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Vladivostok? Not much if you take a glass-half-empty approach. It’s hard to get past the fact that APEC’s role is to be largely a forum for socialising ideas about economic policy that need to be put into practice elsewhere. That’s because unlike the …

Vladivostok has got a lot going for it. But out in the ‘Gulag’ – the concrete monstrosity that the Russians have plonked on Russky Island – it wasn’t so hot. It wasn’t the shoddy building standards (lifts stopping mid-floor; toilet doors too large for their frames) but the E-coli bug that did in several NZ delegates there for the prestigious APEC CEOs …