Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is asking her ministers to prioritise policy over the summer break, saying the Government needs a clear focus on the economy in 2023. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has asked her Cabinet ministers to reconsider their policy priorities over the summer break, signalling contentious policies may be cut for the coming election year. We do need to trim back the amount of issues that we are progressing as a Government,” Ardern said. READ MORE:* Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reflects on the year, plans for the summer* Can New Zealand's most diverse ever cabinet improve representation of women and minorities in general? * Nanaia Mahuta will be foreign minister and the first woman to do the jobROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has indicated some policies might get the chop.

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 5:30 pm, December 13th, 2022 - 26 commentsCategories: Daily review - Tags:Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …Share this: TwitterFacebook

Photo: RNZFestival-goers are being urged to get their drugs tested before they head to gigs this summer. Drug checking services cannot meet demandDrug checking organisation Know Your Stuff is one of four licensed providers in Aotearoa. Last year, the government put $800,000 towards drug testing services. But Bay Dreams could not get a drug checking service - nor could Wānaka's Rhythm and Alps. Festival-goers can get drugs tested at pop-up clinics in the main centres.

Here's our summary of key economic events overnight that affect New Zealand, with news inflation might be easing, but the level of economic activity is as well. The US reveals its CPI data tomorrow and a 7.3% headline rate is expected, down from October's 7.7% rate. Japanese producer prices rose at an annualised +7.2% rate in November from October to be +9.3% higher than year-ago levels. This recent slowing isn't as much as the +6% annualised rate expected, but at least it is slowing now. But it is very sharp loan growth year-on-year and approaching three times the growth in economic activity.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has published global household debt statistics for the June quarter of 2022. This shows that Australia’s total household debt is the second highest in the world when measured against gross domestic product (GDP). This BIS survey is only current to the June quarter, and thereby only captured the first two (0.75%) of interest rate increases by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). Based on these forecasts, the OCR will rise by between 0.25% and 0.75% from its current level of 3.10%. Accordingly, the share of household income used to service principal and interest debt repayments will soar next year to its highest level in history.

Just how terrible will public transport in our biggest city be next year? Emma Vitz has the data. Efficient transport at scale is something we’re never been great at in New Zealand. But rather than getting better, our biggest city seems to be getting worse. Before the pandemic, Auckland’s train ...

Tuesday, 13 December, 2022 - 09:29"Labour MP Jamie Strange has seen the writing on the wall and shown a level of honesty his colleagues could learn from," says ACT Leader David Seymour. "Stuff reports: "Jamie Strange is quitting politics, saying he is better suited to the government benches, as polls show Labour dipping in popularity." "His admission "I feel I am better suited for government than opposition if you look at my personality type, so it was good timing for me coming into government." David Clark is on his bike, Eagle is flying the coop and the woman widely touted on Twitter as future Prime Minister- Marja Lubeck is also on the way out. Jamie Strange’s strange level of honestly from a Labour politician should be applauded.

Tuesday, 13 December, 2022 - 06:14"Revelations this morning in the NZ Herald that Nanaia Mahuta sought advice about the 60 per cent entrenchment threshold a month before Labour voted on the amendment shows she cannot be trusted on three waters entrenchment," says ACT Leader David Seymour. Mahuta now says she only learned of the precise details of the Green SOP when it came up. "The fact that Ardern continues to cover for Mahuta shows how all-powerful the Maori caucus is and that Ardern has no control over Cabinet. "If Helen Clark were Prime Minister, Mahuta would have already been sacked. "It’s time for Ardern to show some leadership and that starts by showing Mahuta the door."

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 5:30 pm, December 12th, 2022 - 64 commentsCategories: Daily review - Tags:Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …Share this: TwitterFacebook

Dannevirke man’s burnout in front of police backfiresA Dannevirke man’s decision to do a burnout in front of police backfired spectacularly after he crashed while trying to flee the scene. Sergeant Gary McKernon said the man did the burnout in front of officers in the Tararua town last Wednesday, which led to an attempt to chase the vehicle. This was abandoned for safety reasons, however, the vehicle hit a kerb a short distance later, damaging a wheel and preventing it from being driven. Officers arrived shortly after, detaining the driver and impounding the vehicle. - Leanne Warr, NZ Herald

Temperatures plummeted to -10C in some areas overnight with the Met Office issuing a series of snow and ice warnings. Image: Getty Images) Getty Images)Parts of Scotland may see temperatures plummet to -10C overnight, the Met Office said, as the cold weather is set to continue into next week. Elsewhere, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) sent out a level three cold weather alert covering England until Friday, keeping extended the alert from Monday. British Airways added: "We're very sorry as a result of adverse winter weather conditions, like other airlines, have had to reduce our schedule at Heathrow today. A Gatwick Airport spokesperson said: "Freezing weather conditions are causing some delays and cancellations today.

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nzherald.co.nz published this video item, entitled “PM Jacinda Ardern holds post-Cabinet press conference.| nzherald.co.nz” – below is their description. PM Jacinda Ardern holds the last post-Cabinet press conference of 2022. Check out our playlists: https://goo.gl/Swd249 Like NZ Herald on Facebook: https://goo.gl/tUC4oq Follow NZ Herald on Instagram: https://goo.gl/oLicXe Follow NZ Herald on Twitter: https://goo.gl/Wi6mbv nzherald.co.nz YouTube ChannelGot a comment? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, below. Please note comments are moderated before publication.

The Labour Government has loosened migration settings for the third time in five months in an attempt to juice population and economic growth at the same time as taking wage pressure off employers, inflation and interest rates more generally. "We need to attract skilled workers to our shores without pay, without conditions and with certainty," Ardern told the news conference. “New Zealand’s strong economic position during a time of global downturn presents a unique opportunity to attract more high skilled migrant workers to our shores, as we prepare for a challenging year ahead. "These measures are about addressing those shortages and providing greater certainty to businesses as they recover from the pandemic." The 134,000 migrants approved to come in over the next year adds to the 200,000 migrant workers granted residency because they stayed here during Covid 19.

Boy, You’re Gonna Carry That WeightAs I assemble the gear list for my hike, I’ve found myself wishing that stuff just didn’t weigh so dang much. I’m a pretty committed thrift store rummager, which means I have an abundance of old weird cheap clothes and knickknacks. So it’s been entertaining and strange to spend a bunch of money on a very small array of precision-engineered technical gear that I’m going to stink up and pulverize. This will be the first time I’m using a shelter that’s held up by trekking poles instead of conventional tent poles, and I’m a little nervous about it blowing over in the wind. Knowing that I am going to be eating dinner out of underwear every day makes me unaccountably happy.