NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

The Insider: Red Tape Test

NZ Herald
19 Feb, 2015 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Kingi Smiler. Photo / Alan Gibson

Kingi Smiler. Photo / Alan Gibson

A Maori businessman and former Ernst & Young partner in Toronto, Kingi Smiler, is the latest to try cutting through the tangled web that is reform of the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 - aka the Maori Land Act. He is chairing yet another ministerial advisory group for yet another minister determined to reform the law. More than 1.4 million hectares of land is Maori-owned.
About 80 per cent of that is considered under-utilised and the present law is regarded as a major barrier to its optimum use. Almost every decision about every aspect of ownership and land use has to go through a judicial process. Reform has defeated many, but it is widely regarded as key to developing Northland and the East Cape.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, off to work we go
Once again, it's almost time for one of the more uncomfortable political road trips - the annual pilgrimage to the meeting of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva. Business and union leaders rub shoulders with politicians from both sides of the fence. They all tell very different stories about life in New Zealand, but what will most confuse the ILO is the fact that this country no longer has a Minister of Labour.

All-clear on red alert
The Red Alert blog site was once touted by Labour as the place where its MPs would re-engage with the public and members, to debate policy and excite voters. Now it resembles a ghost town, with digital tumbleweed blowing through its pages. The most recent post is from Darien Fenton, talking about her valedictory speech - last July.

Up the creek, smelling bad
People with a jaundiced view of Parliament and its inhabitants have been known to describe it as a sewer. It has certainly smelt that way lately, after an over-generous application of fertiliser on the parliamentary lawn created a pungent odour around the place. This was rather fitting for events this week, when many parliamentary staff and MPs found themselves up the proverbial creek, as a faulty switching mechanism brought down the IT system for much of the complex. MPs are wondering how they became so reliant on a system which seems to have no fallback plan. Many were reduced to writing notes and having them hand delivered. Suddenly, getting rid of most of the parliamentary messengers didn't seem like such a bright idea.

Terror by any other name...
Shakespeare put the question "What's in a name?" in the mouth of the love-struck Romeo, but it seems our politicians, diplomats and military are asking the same question about the enemy they are preparing to face in the Middle East. Most commonly called "Isis" or "Isil", the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant gets different versions at different times from the Government, with "IS" and "Islamic State" also thrown in. But the New Zealand military seems to be following the style of other governments and the United Nations, which dislike that name and instead call them "Daesh", which comes from the Arabic acronym for the terrorist group. One can only hope that the confusion of titles doesn't point to different views of the enemy, or the nature of New Zealand's mission. WORDS

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

From down the back

National Party MP Maurice Williamson. Photo / Brett Phibbs
National Party MP Maurice Williamson. Photo / Brett Phibbs

It is not clear whether it was coincidence or a pointed message from National that former ministers Judith Collins and Maurice Williamson were given only shared speaking rights in the formal parliamentary debate on the Prime Minister's statement. Rubbing it in further, the split call came late on a Thursday afternoon, a time when many Auckland MPs are racing for the airport. Williamson gave a "great big thank you" to his party whips for the time slot. Collins said the arrangements were appropriate for the circumstances. Both dutifully mocked Labour, and Williamson showed he had been using his free time to improve his word power, describing Labour as "quaquaversal" (sloping downward from the centre in all directions).

Voice of experience
The latest rumour doing the rounds in political circles is that Trade Negotiations Minister Tim Groser is going to replace Mike Moore as Our Man in Washington when his term is up at the end of the year. Groser has the credentials for the job, and making him ambassador would have the added bonus of ending his speeches to fellow caucus members.

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

The Insider: Friends in small places

11 Sep 05:00 PM
Business

The Insider: Sky-High Hopes

18 Sep 05:30 PM
New Zealand|politics

The Insider: Puffed Up

25 Sep 05:30 PM
Business

The Insider: Hands on the levers

16 Oct 04:00 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Premium
Media Insider

From the heartbreak of losing her husband at just 48, a couple's enduring media legacy

09 May 05:00 PM
Premium
Opinion

Fran O'Sullivan: Political games hinder vital superannuation reform

09 May 05:00 PM
Premium
Opinion

Mary Holm: Is there are pot of gold waiting for those who invest in non-bank deposits?

09 May 05:00 PM

“Not an invisible footprint”: Why technology supply chains need optimising

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
From the heartbreak of losing her husband at just 48, a couple's enduring media legacy

From the heartbreak of losing her husband at just 48, a couple's enduring media legacy

09 May 05:00 PM

'It allows me to focus on myself and the kids and figure out life without Allan.'

Premium
Fran O'Sullivan: Political games hinder vital superannuation reform

Fran O'Sullivan: Political games hinder vital superannuation reform

09 May 05:00 PM
Premium
Mary Holm: Is there are pot of gold waiting for those who invest in non-bank deposits?

Mary Holm: Is there are pot of gold waiting for those who invest in non-bank deposits?

09 May 05:00 PM
Premium
Noise ban, off-limit interviews: TVNZ's rules as RNZ moves in; Ad agencies take aim at global merger

Noise ban, off-limit interviews: TVNZ's rules as RNZ moves in; Ad agencies take aim at global merger

09 May 10:58 AM
Deposit scheme reduces risk, boosts trust – General Finance
sponsored

Deposit scheme reduces risk, boosts trust – General Finance

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP