http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ Latest NZ Government headlines from nzherald.co.nz en-nz Copyright 2010 APN HOLDINGS NZ Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:00:09 +1200 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss APN RSS Generator webnews@nzherald.co.nz webmaster@nzherald.co.nz http://www.nzherald.co.nz/images/nz_little_logo.gif http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/headlines.cfm?c_id=144 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632811&ref=rss New Zealand first leader Winston Peters will not contest the Tauranga seat at the next election.Mr Peters was the MP for Tauranga for 21 years before being ousted by National's Bob Clarkson in 2005.Simon Bridges won it again... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:07:45 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632810&ref=rss A Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules in Fiji has carried out reconnaissance flights over the country's northern islands, finding damaged buildings and salt-water inundation following Cyclone Tomas.A tropical cyclone warning... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:04:02 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632772&ref=rss The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) has welcomed the Government's decision not to support the reintroduction of youth rates.The National Party yesterday ruled out supporting a bill introduced to Parliament by Act MP Sir Roger Douglas... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:12:56 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632765&ref=rss The State Services Commission has launched inquiries into the unauthorised release of Government information relating to a stocktake of Crown minerals, and leaks relating to a Cabinet paper on proposed state service restructures.The... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:31:15 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632754&ref=rss At last ordinary New Zealanders can now purchase a stake in a prison or a hospital or a school via the ground-breaking New Zealand Social Infrastruc newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:28:03 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632723&ref=rss Right-wing blogger Cameron Slater has unreservedly apologised to Labour MP Chris Carter for wrongly accusing him of rorting the system and getting taxpayers to pay for a family member's phone bill. On Sunday Mr Slater, on his... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632719&ref=rss The Government's proposals to rein in steep electricity price rises for domestic consumers won't work and may in fact have the opposite effect, says consumer advocate and Electricity Commission adviser Molly Melhuish.Parliament's... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632718&ref=rss The Government is promising more cuts to core public service jobs after saying yesterday that it had cut almost 1500 jobs last year and a further 130 Ministry of Health jobs will go in the next 15 months.But the Opposition and... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632717&ref=rss When Parliament suddenly goes pin-droppingly silent - as it did yesterday - it is a fair bet someone is in serious strife or at least teetering on the brink of it.Such a funereal hush enveloped the chamber during ministers' question... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632716&ref=rss Associate Corrections Minister Pita Sharples was not consulted about the amendments to the Government's three-strikes bill before it was announced in January, documents show.The Labour Party says it is "astounding" that Dr Sharples... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632712&ref=rss Mining companies say they have no interest in mining ecologically sensitive areas of the Coromandel Peninsula and do not believe there is pressure from the industry to enter national parks.This week, conservation group Forest... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632674&ref=rss Only once did laughter break out during the finance and expenditure select committee's three hours of hearings yesterday into the Government's plans to restructure the electricity industry.A former member of the Electricity Commission,... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632672&ref=rss The economic events of the past two years have provided a reality check and left many New Zealanders feeling unprepared for retirement, according to a survey by Mercer.By the same token, these events and the introduction of KiwiSaver... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632647&ref=rss At first blush it looks like good news for exporters: Governor Alan Bollard's expectation that he will not have to push the official cash rate so high over the next few years.It is because there is a much wider margin than there... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632620&ref=rss The National-led Government appears to have lost its way. It seems to me that Prime Minister John Key's intricate and inclusive coalition arrangement, rather than ensuring National's re-election next year, is shaping up to generate... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632618&ref=rss The leaky building epidemic did not happen by accident. It was primarily caused by government mismanagement over more than a decade.Two government-funded agencies - the Building Industry Authority (BIA) and the Building Research... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632611&ref=rss A national body that helps ex-prisoners fit back into society has lost its Government contract in the wake of an internal split and a falling-out with Corrections Minister Judith Collins.The Corrections Department's $2.5 million-a-year... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632630&ref=rss The Government says it will provide assistance to cyclone-struck Fiji for as long as necessary."We will do whatever we have to do," Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said late this afternoon.Cyclone Tomas, which has... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:15:02 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632616&ref=rss National MP John Carter has accused telecommuncations provider Slingshot of aggressive tele-marketing and bullying his 86-year-old mother into transferring the home phone line to a Slingshot account.At the end of last year, a... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:11:07 +1200 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10632587&ref=rss New Zealand's government isn't trying to undermine Telecom in measures such as bolstering rural broadband services, said Communications Minister Steven Joyce.Telecom stock sank 1.4 per cent to $2.14 on the NZX today, the second... newsfeeds@nzherald.co.nz Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:16:26 +1200