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Peter Dunne - Latest News [Page 10]
Dunne Speaks: Time To Look Again At Flexisuper
Thursday, 7 April 2022, 9:46 am | Peter Dunne
The call by Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi to pay Māori a pension from the age of 57 should not be dismissed out of hand. He is right to draw attention to the fact that on average Māori die earlier, and therefore have less time to enjoy ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: $1.9 Billion Spend On Mental Health Produces No Results
Wednesday, 23 March 2022, 9:34 am | Peter Dunne
According to Mental Health and Wellness Commission statistics, one in ten New Zealanders made use of the website www.depression.org.nz in 2020/21. At the same time, just over 191,000 people (3.7% of the population) accessed mental health services directly ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: National's New Finance Spokesperson
Thursday, 17 March 2022, 9:04 am | Peter Dunne
In our system of government, the Prime Minister is often described as “primus inter pares”, the first among equals, or the chair of the board when it comes to leading Cabinet and the wider team of government MPs. The Minister of Finance, correspondingly, ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: The Right To Vote Is Absolute
Wednesday, 9 March 2022, 8:37 am | Peter Dunne
The most basic and cherished right in a free society is the right to vote. Wars have been fought over it, and people have given their lives and endured other indignities in defence of the right to cast a vote for whom they choose at election time. It ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Not With A Bang, But A Whimper
Thursday, 3 March 2022, 8:29 am | Peter Dunne
I was reminded recently of T.S. Eliot’s famous lines at the end of his classic poem, “The Waste Land”: “This is the way world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.” The occasion was the government’s latest announcements bringing forward ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Time To Tone Down The Covid19 Rhetoric
Thursday, 24 February 2022, 9:10 am | Peter Dunne
The surreal occupation of Parliament's grounds and environs and the increasingly objectionable behaviour of at least some of the protesters is understandably dominating the news cycles at present. Whatever else it is doing, it is distracting attention ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: The Ever-so Earnest Commissioner Of Police
Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 10:36 am | Peter Dunne
In the early years of the twentieth century United States President Theodore Roosevelt described his approach to foreign policy as “speak softly and carry a big stick.” He stood, he said, for “the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Andrew Little's Refreshing Honesty
Thursday, 10 February 2022, 9:26 am | Peter Dunne
At first glance, Andrew Little’s admission that he does not know when the country will move to the orange traffic light system, or even what it will take to make such a move, seems utterly disingenuous. After all, he is the Minister of Health, and ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: So Far, So Good For Luxon
Thursday, 3 February 2022, 8:38 am | Peter Dunne
Christopher Luxon can feel well pleased with how things have gone since he picked up the previously poisoned chalice of leader of the National Party just over nine weeks ago. For the first time since going into Opposition more than four years ago ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Changing The Process Of Government By Stealth
Friday, 28 January 2022, 9:47 am | Peter Dunne
In a column some months ago I drew attention to the way the role of the Director-General of Health has changed during the pandemic. I expressed concern that the position has been allowed to expand well beyond the traditional role of the chief executive ... More >>
Pass The Parcel On Transmission Gully
Thursday, 16 December 2021, 9:03 am | Peter Dunne
An elaborate game of pass the parcel is underway in Wellington about who is responsible for the failure to have the new Transmission Gully Motorway, originally intended for completion in April 2020, and then five projected dates after that, finally open ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Question Time Is Anything But
Thursday, 9 December 2021, 8:52 am | Peter Dunne
The focus placed on the first couple of Question Time exchanges between the new leader of the National Party and the Prime Minister will have seemed excessive to many but the most seasoned Parliamentary observers. Most people, especially those ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Can ACT's Dream Run Continue?
Thursday, 2 December 2021, 8:29 am | Peter Dunne
By most reckonings the ACT Party has had a very successful political year. Not only has its expanded Parliamentary team settled in well to its work, without controversy or scandal, but its leader has gained in community respect, and the party’s support, ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Marama Davidson's Criticisms Hardly A Surprise
Thursday, 25 November 2021, 8:50 am | Peter Dunne
Last week, Greens co-leader and government Minister Marama Davidson spoke out against the government over the pace of its climate change response. Her remarks took some commentators by surprise, both because of their bluntness, but also because as a ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Vaccine Pass An Inevitable Necessary Evil
Thursday, 18 November 2021, 8:27 am | Peter Dunne
New Zealanders generally are very protective of their personal privacy. They do not like officialdom to know any more about them than is absolutely necessary and have traditionally been sceptical of attempts by governments trying to gather more ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Bridges' Return?
Thursday, 11 November 2021, 8:36 am | Peter Dunne
As political proclamations go, it was neither the boldest nor the most inspiring, but, in the circumstances, probably one of the more realistic of recent times. Judith Collins’ assertion that she would be still leader of the National Party next year ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: James Shaw's Trip To Glasgow
Thursday, 4 November 2021, 8:55 am | Peter Dunne
As the world’s great and good descend on Glasgow for the COP26 Conference there has been criticism of Climate Change Minister James Shaw’s decision to attend on behalf of New Zealand. Some have highlighted what they see as the hypocrisy of calling ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Words Count Minister
Thursday, 28 October 2021, 8:30 am | Peter Dunne
Just three weeks ago the Minister of Local Government received the interim report of the Future for Local Government Review which the government had earlier commissioned. Predictably, she welcomed the report the way Ministers usually do, with the standard ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Labour Snookers National Again
Thursday, 21 October 2021, 10:42 am | Peter Dunne
The Labour-led Government must be rubbing its hands with glee after the announcement earlier this week of its housing deal with the National Party. In one fell swoop it has effectively both taken increasing housing availability and affordability – ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: 25 Years Of MMP - And The Government Wants To Make It Harder For Small Parties
Thursday, 14 October 2021, 8:55 am | Peter Dunne
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the New Zealand’s first MMP election. Over the last quarter century, the MMP electoral system has led to our Parliament becoming more socially and ethnically diverse, more gender balanced, and to a wider ... More >>
