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Peter Dunne - Latest News [Page 21]
All Aboard the Superannuation Merry-Go-Round Once More
Thursday, 9 March 2017, 9:32 am | Peter Dunne
From the mid 1980s until the late 1990s the one certainty about superannuation policy in New Zealand was its uncertainty. Every government played around with it, to the detriment not just of superannuitants of the time, but also of those approaching ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Who will speak up for the Environment?
Thursday, 2 March 2017, 9:02 am | Peter Dunne
New Zealanders care strongly about their environment. That is evident from general conversations, and even the most casual perusal of the stories produced by major news outlets. Environment issues always feature prominently and usually sympathetically. ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: What next for civil defence?
Thursday, 23 February 2017, 11:14 am | Peter Dunne
The 6th anniversary this week of Christchurch’s devastating earthquake, and the horrific fires that have been fringing the city in recent days are timely reminders of the vulnerability we have to natural disasters. One extraordinary constant at ... More >>
Dunne speaks: A few facts about Ohariu
Thursday, 16 February 2017, 11:46 am | Peter Dunne
The Ohariu electorate has been very much in the news in recent days. There has been the usual amount of breathless hype and exaggeration from political commentators about what they think is going on. Most of it has been wildly inaccurate, ridiculously ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Better access to Cannabis Based Medicines
Thursday, 9 February 2017, 9:56 am | Peter Dunne
Earlier this week I announced that applications to prescribe non pharmaceutical grade cannabis based medicinal products would no longer require my approval as Associate Minister of Health. I further announced that I would be advising medical authorities ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Fulminating Against Trump Goes Only So Far
Thursday, 2 February 2017, 9:42 am | Peter Dunne
Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, wisely observed that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. It is a point that the world should perhaps have pondered more when candidate, and now forty-fifth President, Donald Trump pledged ... More >>
Dunne Speaks - Congratulations Mr President
Wednesday, 25 January 2017, 9:08 am | Peter Dunne
Congratulations Donald Trump! I do not support anything you stand for, and certainly would not have voted for you, had I been an American citizen eligible to vote last year. Nor do I think you will be a good President for the United States or the world. ... More >>
What does Bill English as Prime Minister mean?
Wednesday, 14 December 2016, 9:25 am | Peter Dunne
So, Bill English is now our Prime Minister. It was an extraordinary turn of events, from John Key’s shock resignation, to a brief 75 hour leadership contest, that saw Mr English quickly prevail, and an only marginally longer contest for the Deputy’s ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: That Was the Week That Was
Wednesday, 7 December 2016, 9:02 am | Peter Dunne
What a difference a week makes! It was former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson who coined the adage in the 1960s that a week is a long time in politics. And that has certainly been the case in New Zealand in the last week. More >>
Dunne Speaks - A Narrow Sect, not a Broad Church
Wednesday, 30 November 2016, 11:39 am | Peter Dunne
When I was growing up and starting to become politically aware, I became a strong Labour supporter. I could see no redeeming feature in any other political party and so joined the Labour Party immediately I left school. At university, I was a Labour ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Shifting the Capital is Another Dumb Idea
Wednesday, 23 November 2016, 9:49 am | Peter Dunne
In the wake of the recent earthquakes it was probably inevitable that someone would suggest government agencies be shifted out of Wellington to make them safe. It is the sort of populist drivel one can expect at a time like this. More >>
Dunne Speaks: Two Earthquakes in a Week
Wednesday, 16 November 2016, 9:29 am | Peter Dunne
New Zealand has had to deal with two earthquakes in the last week – at almost opposite ends of the globe. More >>
Dunne Speaks: The Topsy-Turvy World of By-elections
Thursday, 3 November 2016, 9:30 am | Peter Dunne
Two critical by-elections are about to take place on opposite sides of the world. In a few weeks, in Auckland, the Roskill by-election will be held to elect a new MP to replace former long-serving Labour MP Phil Goff, following his election as ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Follow the UN, not the Global Coalition
Thursday, 27 October 2016, 9:18 am | Peter Dunne
As the thirteen member (including New Zealand) Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State meets in Paris to plot the eventual demise of the movement known as Daesh, the campaign to drive Daesh out of Mosul, its northern Iraq stronghold is gathering ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: The Dance of the Seven Veils is Over
Thursday, 20 October 2016, 3:50 pm | Peter Dunne
The dance of the seven veils on United States Navy ship visits finally ended this week with the revelation that USS Samson, a guided missile destroyer, would represent the United States at the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Royal New Zealand Navy ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Police & Migration
Thursday, 13 October 2016, 11:32 am | Peter Dunne
Most of us are either shaking our heads in disbelief or laughing in amazement at the ongoing train wreck that is the American Presidential Election campaign. The hype, the hyperbole, the sleaze and the vitriol, let alone the virtual disregard ... More >>
DUNNE SPEAKS – What’s In A Word?
Wednesday, 5 October 2016, 10:31 am | Peter Dunne
DUNNE SPEAKS – What’s In A Word? Our world is built on words. Big words, little words, everyday words. Some words are acceptable, others are not. (This week, the British media published the list of English swear words in order of their unacceptability. ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: Jeremy Little, Andrew Corbyn or Shane Jones?
Wednesday, 28 September 2016, 9:27 am | Peter Dunne
So, the Leader of the Opposition thinks elections should not be about who wins the centre ground. He is right, up to a point, especially about bringing together “coalitions of interests” in his bid to win office. Where he is wrong, however, is that no ... More >>
What do the Kermadecs and the RMA have in common?
Thursday, 22 September 2016, 8:58 am | Peter Dunne
National’s challenges over the Kermadecs Marine Sanctuary are a potential foretaste of what is to come with its ongoing attempts to change the Resource Management Act. Three years ago, with much fanfare, the then Environment Minister announced to the ... More >>
Dunne Speaks: MPs' Communications Are Private
Thursday, 15 September 2016, 9:08 am | Peter Dunne
When I was obliged to resign as a Minister in June 2013 because I would not give an Inquiry into the early release of a Government report my private emails, I made the comment that, “The sole reason that I did not disclose the full content of ... More >>
