Auckland without workers

Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, July 19th, 2016 - 73 comments
Categories: housing, national, useless - Tags: , , , , ,

It’s already the case that an average wage can’t buy a house in Auckland, and that some working families can’t even afford to rent, hence the rise of the working homeless. The unaffordability of Auckland is now seriously impacting even moderately well paid professions:

Recruiting Auckland teachers ‘a nightmare’ due to housing costs

A survey of Auckland’s primary schools paints a picture of severe teacher shortages across the city and at every school decile level. The struggle to recruit teachers is being described as “a nightmare” by principals who blame it largely on the high cost of housing in the city. Three years ago, schools were getting 50 applicants per job. Now many are lucky if they get five – and often for multiple positions.


Ms Plowright said she had had teachers leave and move out of Auckland to reduce housing costs.

Stories like this prompted the Auckland Primary Principals Association (APPA) to conduct a survey in June. It found that of the 168 schools actively needing staff for Term 3, 65 percent received five or fewer applicants. At least eight schools received no applicants for vacancies. Association president Diane Manners said the data illustrated the serious problem facing primary schools in Auckland.

“There’s no way currently to incentivise to bring people into the Auckland market. …

I know Auckland teachers in this position. One more rent rise away from being driven out of the city.

As these trends continue, how is Auckland going to cope without workers?

73 comments on “Auckland without workers ”

  1. Richard Christie 1

    This demographic outcome has been obviously coming, I’m amazed that there has been so little public discussion about it.
    We will soon witness a demographic shift as significant as the urbanisation of Maori in the mid 20th century. But with far greater economic impact.

    • Robertina 1.1

      It is remarkable how little analysis there is considering it is starting to reshape the country (and has been a long time coming).
      There’s a little considered factor shaping up – older people are admitted to rest-homes much less these days. They are increasingly waiting and heading straight to hospital-level care. The baby boomer bubble will have a big impact on supply in that respect.
      It must be keeping women in toxic relationships, too, and for that reason some of the family values brigade are celebrating rising property values.
      I remember back in the 90s reading Jane Austin and marveling at the compromises made by female characters, notably Charlotte Lucas’s reluctant choice of the slimy Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice. Yet less than 20 years on, without wishing to over-egg it, we are closer to that world.

  2. Keith 2

    This was always going to happen. Firstly with first hand knowledge this situation is real and teaching is not well paid. Secondly the Ministry of Education is proposing overseas teachers. How incomprehensibly stupid is that, more migrants coming to a city plagued by over population, that by international standards is so expensive few can afford to move here. Thirdly teaching is not alone with this problem.

    Quite simply you cannot operate a Ponzi scheme in property and not have severe collateral damage when the things that balance the community ecosystem are abandoned. Operating a business in Auckland is similarly fraught.

    Either the skyrocketing property prices are matched by wage rises or the whole system will collapse. And given Nationals cleverness with its cheap labour migration policy and given income levels are near frozen Aucklands in the shit, big time!

    • Muttonbird 2.1

      Secondly the Ministry of Education is proposing overseas teachers. How incomprehensibly stupid is that, more migrants coming to a city plagued by over population.

      That is disgraceful. We have all the talent and skills right here in NZ. Our past record has shown that.

      • Sabine 2.1.1

        but our economy needs the money migrants bring.

        after all once WE have paid rent and mortgage on our million dollar cold, leaky, fire hazard dumps we have no money left to keep the economy stimulated.

        So more people to warehouse in dumps, but then i guess our dumps are still better then the dumps of Jakarta.

    • Sebbie 2.2

      Vote NZfirst?

  3. Muttonbird 3

    Plenty of young teachers at my kids’ school have left to the regions. The turnover has been quite high in the last three years. Also, it’s the young teachers you want in order to reinvigorate a school and provide much needed energy and enthusiasm.

  4. Sabine 4

    How are they gonna cope?

    the housewifes of Auckland will become homeschoolers?

    or maybe they import the future slaves on a student visa from indonesia?

  5. dv 5

    Nurses too

    • Sabine 5.1

      fire fighters, especially the 2/3 of our fire fighters that are volunteers. Consider that there are now more and more crews that can’t go out and attend a fire or emergency because they don’t have a’ full crew’ together.
      There are not enough full time paid fire fighters and the volunteers are like anyone else who does not own a house literally living as transients a 2 weeks notice from moving elsewhere every 6 – 12 month.

      There is on thing National excells at and that is employing people that are truly fucking brain dead. But maybe its John Key’s house that needs to burn cause no one shows up to put the fire out before something happens.

  6. Sabine 6

    NZ vs Germany rentals

    http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/social-issues-current-affairs/tenants-in-our-own-land/

    ahh well, nothing can be done here, it’s all the councils fault or sumsuchthing…

    • One Anonymous Bloke 6.1

      Nah, the Council has heaps of sections waiting to go. It must be the Resource Management Act that’s at fault. No, wait, this just in: Labour did it.

      • alwyn 6.1.1

        “No, wait, this just in: Labour did it”.
        If you look at the graph in the article Sabine has linked to that is a perfectly reasonable complaint.
        Have a look at the price/average income graph. That rose enormously (from about 3.7 to 6.7 between about 2002 and 2008. That was when Labour were in office wasn’t it? After that it dropped.
        Seems quite fair to blame Labour for the mess, going on that link.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 6.1.1.1

          No, blame is useless and a sure sign that you don’t have a tool in your box to fix the problem.

          Get out of the way.

        • Sabine 6.1.1.2

          mate we are in the year of 2016. What ever happened after the year 2008 is on Nationals watch.

          so go have a cuppa, make it a good one add a bit of sugar and milk to taste and read that whole article again and again until you fucking understand why i posted it here.
          Fuck can the National Party please employ some stooges that can actually engage their brain before reading.

          • alwyn 6.1.1.2.1

            Just what do you want National to do Sabine?
            If we want to get house prices down again to an “affordable” level we will have to do what Arthur Grimes and Don Brash are proposing. We will have to build a huge number of properties and crash the current prices being asked, and paid, for existing houses in Auckland.
            No current politician is willing to do that. NONE of them.
            Try and get out of Little, or Key, Twyford or Smith an admission that that is what must happen. You don’t have a hope. None of them is willing to admit that it is the only way to get affordable housing in Auckland.

            Then while you are thinking about that please tell me what is wrong with my interpretation of the graph? 2002 to 2008 is when it went all pear-shaped. Well it happened and if you want affordable housing it has to be reversed.
            HOW do we do that?

            • One Anonymous Bloke 6.1.1.2.1.1

              The number of homeless working families is increasing and your most pressing concern is that house prices mustn’t fall.

              Get out of the way.

              • alwyn

                “your most pressing concern is that house prices mustn’t fall”.

                Wherever did you get that idea about me? Where did I ever say that? I am on Grimes and Brash’s side.
                If we want to get back to affordable housing a major drop in house prices is essential. I can say it of course. I am not trying to get elected to anything.

                The real problem is getting any active politicians to come out and say so.
                Key won’t. Little won’t. Twyford won’t. Smith won’t. Shaw won’t. Turei won’t. Peters won’t. Flavell won’t. Dunne won’t.
                I can’t say what Seymour would say. I haven’t seen anything for or against the idea from him.

                • One Anonymous Bloke

                  I’ll rephrase:

                  We know what the Greens and Labour (and NZ 1st for all I know or care) would do to house the homeless: build houses. I’m not convinced the affect that will have on your precious market is their primary concern.

            • Sabine 6.1.1.2.1.2

              Read the article again Alwyn, that would be a good start. Then address the issues in the article raised. Then we can have a discussion.

              As for the Graph that you want to talk about it, i have posted below the post by the Standard referring to John Keys speech from 2007. He got voted in to make it better.
              Now you tell me if he made it better for New Zealanders and how. Cause it has been 8+ fucking years that he and his merry band of of government tit sucklers have been the fucking government of this country.

              So again, Labour is not in government. Labour is not calling the shots and has not called the shots for the last 8 years. Get used to the fact that like a tool you voted for someone who would have absolutely no problem taking you, your parents, your great parents and your children to the market for the highest bidder to buy as a commodity.

              Again, read the article.

              • alwyn

                I am not, and never have been, a member of any Political Party. I am the true swinging voter who has, since 1981 voted 5 times for Labour, 6 times for National and once abstained.

                Of course National are in a state of third term tiredness. The problem is that there is no alternative party even remotely capable of forming and running a coherent Government.
                THAT is the problem New Zealand has. We have the same useless drones in the Labour Party as we had 8 years ago. The thought of any of the idiots from the Green Party in a Government is even more scary.

                Tell me. What is the Labour Party proposing as an alternative? If they want me to vote for them they must have an option. Little rabbits on about building 100,000 new homes of which 50,000 are going to be affordable. Who will get them on the cheap? How will they be allocated?
                When asked he has no answer, or at least not one he is willing to tell us about.

                Perhaps he is going to do it in the time honoured lefty way. Give them cheap to his mates.
                Member of the party?. Go straight to the front of the line comrade.

                • Sabine

                  Have you read the article?

                  This article is not about National/Labour or humpty dumpty. You are.

                  Read the darn thing.

                  • alwyn

                    Ok, I have read it again and nothing has changed.
                    Are you in favour of people being able to afford to buy a home, which seems to be the general theme here, or are you quite happy that they rent forever and you want to make that easier and more stable. They are quite different things of course.
                    If you are quite happy with long term renting why are you waving a 2007 speech by key around?

                    Incidentally, it is possible to make laws that are so much in favour of the lessee that nobody will lease at all.
                    I knew, and worked with people who were posted to New Zealand to work for a couple of years in the early 1970’s. English law at the time was apparently such that it was impossible to force a tenant to move out if they didn’t want to, even if a fixed term lease had expired.
                    They owned houses in the UK and had refused to lease them to anyone except US Air Force personnel. They simply wouldn’t lease to English people as they might not be able to regain use of their own house. The Air Force, not wanting to upset British people, would ensure that they moved out at the end of the lease period. A suggestion that their next posting would be to a base in the far north of Greenland would introduce a ready agreement to getting out of the property.

        • Sabine 6.1.1.3

          http://thestandard.org.nz/keys-powerful-speech-on-the-urgent-housing-crisis/

          maybe you want to read this again 🙂 Your bested dear Leader speaking ab out the dread full Labour party and how he is making sure that we are not becoming tenants in our country..

          but then you might want to add that the people sleeping in cars are not tenants as they own their cars?

        • dv 6.1.1.4

          BUT Key was going to fix it!!!

      • adam 6.1.2

        Actually One Anonymous Bloke, labour did bugger all except more of the same half baked neo-liberalism.

        The reason the argument of labour did it too sticks is simple, they did. But you are right, we should be looking for solutions. But I worry, and I think I’m not alone, when the labour party has not divested from neo-liberalism what sort of solutions are going to be put on the table.

        As for alwyn, you have been caught out not reading a link properly before commenting on it again. Sad man, just sad.

        • Colonial Viper 6.1.2.1

          The continuous deliberate blindness from otherwise intellectually bright Labour loyalists is quite impressive.

          • adam 6.1.2.1.1

            Not blindness Colonial Viper, I think they hope and believe they are beyond it. However they should be reminded they have not divested. That said – banging them over the head with it, does not work either – As I’m going to assume you have realised by now?

            .

            • Sabine 6.1.2.1.1.1

              nah he has not.

              give the man some matches so he can light the world and all those that don’t do as he says can just burn.

              We have the political system we have. We can change within that system, or we can go russian revolution. Or french revolution. Or any other revolution.

              You trell me how that did any good to the hungry, homeless, jobless and so on.

              ahh ..yes, it did not change a thing, the only thing that changed is that some geezer who burned the world got to be caliph at the place of the caliph.

              The thing about our wingers and colonial viper is that they actually don’t have any answers. All they have is the mantra that what ever Labour or to some extend even the Green Party does will not be enough because….pokemon, or fudge, or something. So lets burn the world. Only then will people learn.

              Waiting for the messiah is like waiting for Godot. That messiah geezer never shows up. and the one time he did show up he got killed in the name of the friggin father and holy ghost. Cause reason.

              • adam

                Jesh Sabine don’t hold back.

                And give Colonial Viper some room, it’s not nice learning what you put your life into, is a lie.

                As for your comparison of him to ISIS, odd man, just odd.

                If you are having an existential crisis, I find the Gospel of Matthew helps.

    • Muttonbird 6.2

      So we are now at 1951 levels of home ownership. All that work done to make stable, better communities un-done by two successive national governments.

      • adam 6.2.1

        Four successive neo-liberal governments, including two of which were labour.

        Neo-liberalism lesson 101, forget the party political brand, its actions which speak louder than words.

        • Muttonbird 6.2.1.1

          Fair enough. I was just looking at the two major drops in home ownership in the graph. One sharp drop occurring in the mid-90s and an equally severe decline since 2008 bringing us back to the 1951 level.

          Also, I can’t see the current steep drop in home ownership being slowed anytime soon. Even the minister of finance is warning people not to buy a house right now.

        • alwyn 6.2.1.2

          “two of which were labour”.
          There have, of course, been four rather than two Labour Governments since 1951. Which two do you regard as “neo-liberal” and what would you call the other ones?

          • ropata 6.2.1.2.1

            Lange ’84 presided over the worst betrayal of Labour principles, NZ was facing an economic crisis, Rogernomics was a shock and awe campaign and Lange was too weak to stop it.
            Clark ’99 wasn’t much better, failing to reverse Shipley’s attacks on welfare in her quest to be business friendly.

            These 2 caused levels of inequality not seen for a generation and the NZ myth of a classless society was truly shattered. Clark in particular can be reasonably blamed for her governments part in encouraging a housing bubble, which I am personally quite sour about because my wages have never kept pace with the mad property market. Even now that I am on quite a high income I don’t rate my chances of getting anything in Auckland below $1 million. I don’t need that millstone, thanks

            Ultimately the most business friendly society is a healthy one with a strong middle class. Good wages and conditions, fair markets, strong ethical regulators, and proactive management of resources and the environment.

            Instead we get Key’s supply side economic theory which is trickling into his mates pockets and away from the people of NZ

          • adam 6.2.1.2.2

            I’m going to recommend two books alwyn. One is New Zealand government and politics edited by Raymond Miller. They other is Politics in New Zealand by Richard Mulgan (get the third edition). Both do a good job with our collective political history.

            The two labour governments are the fourth and the fifth. The first, second and third were committed to an inclusive social democracy. And a mixed model economy.

  7. RedLogix 7

    Auckland will be fine. All it needs is plenty of “overseas investors” with suitcases full of cash to keep it rolling on.

  8. AmaKiwi 8

    It’s poverty. It’s not an income gap.

    Working full-time and “not being able to make ends meet” is a euphemism for poverty.

    Cut the crap. We are becoming an impoverished third world country.

    Thanks neo-liberals. Enjoy the Second Great Depression you caused.

    • Sabine 8.1

      and thanks all those that since 1979 have voted for these clowns again and again and again, for cheap shit to buy, for overseas holidays and being better then joneses from next door, for increased house values, for cheap labour and so on and so on.

      there were an awfull lot of people that vote for that shit, heck they voted for the last 8 years of National. Put a bit of blame on them too while you are at.

  9. Colonial Viper 9

    Why is anyone still working in Auckland when you can make $2K per week tax free on a house?

    • Stuart Munro 9.1

      And they used to think taking in each other’s laundry was a lousy basis for an economy.

    • ropata 9.2

      We are following the Celtic Tiger model — bidding up property prices while the bankers sit on the sidelines throwing money into the fray —

      At least potatoes grow quite well in Pukekohe… (until the urban boundary is removed and all that world class soil is concreted over)

  10. Siobhan 10

    Just a matter of time before National see’s the benefit of rail; super high speed cattle wagons bringing in workers from Hamilton.
    Meantime teachers have always been a thorn in the side of National, so maybe, under the guise of The High Tech Economy, just replace them with a computer feed from some compliant Neo Con Education Think Tank.
    I hope I haven’t just contributed to the Nation Parties Manifesto.

  11. alwyn 11

    ” Three years ago, schools were getting 50 applicants per job. Now many are lucky if they get five – and often for multiple positions.”.

    I can remember this blog having long rants at the Government because there were far more people looking for jobs in a new “big-box” store than there were jobs available.
    Can somebody please explain to me why having 50 people applying for a single teaching job is supposed to be a good thing? That is 49 people who were going to be out in the cold. Even 5 people for a single job seems to be a lot.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 11.1

      Can someone please explain to me why wingnuts think twisting and turning and rhetoric can ever disguise the fact that they’re enabling a shit government that can’t house its citizens.

      • Sabine 11.1.1

        because they would have to admit that they too are nothing in the eyes of this government and that their precious life is just as precarious as that of anyone else. And then they would run out of people to blame, cause they can’t really blame themselves for voting for such a band of ‘lords’ cause then they too would have to carry some responsibility and this is the one thing these Bart Simpson Tories can’t do. Admit responsibility ? Oh no sir, t’was not me, was him/her or him/her or him/her anyone but me.

        • Reddelusion 11.1.1.1

          Phew take a pill and nap Sabine, highly strung today 😀

        • Chuck 11.1.1.2

          Interesting rant Sabine…

          Alwyn makes a interesting point, and all OAB and you can do is deflect.

          Sad.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 11.1.1.2.1

            If Alwyn’s “point” is the best answer to the massive issue we have with housing affordability that he or you can come up with, that explains why you need to get out of the way.

            AR’s source is quite clear about the nature of the problem you and Alwyn cannot grasp, despite the fact that the link is made clear in small words. Do you need a picture Chuckie?

            • Chuck 11.1.1.2.1.1

              Still avoiding answering the question…In the article AR referenced having 50 applicants applying for a single job is somehow a good thing??

              An easy fix to kept / attract teachers to Auckland, would be to pay an housing allowance over and above his/her salary. If indeed the situation is as dire as the APPA say.

              I somehow think though the various teachers unions would not support the proposal…it would need to be nationwide or not at all.

              • One Anonymous Bloke

                Let’s for a moment imagine that AR didn’t mean any of the things you’re projecting. Let’s imagine that the source was saying something instead.

                Off the top of my head, I can imagine that a position at a school in Auckland – and potentially a foot on the attendant property ladder, might once have looked like an attractive proposition.

                However, your point of view depends upon you rejecting the experience and information contained in the article. Attack Ms. Plowright somehow, as a perfect embodiment of National Party values.

                I expect she’s a teacher, or something. Probably a union member. The best way to rebut her message is to smash her. Go on.

              • Sabine

                you know what, maybe if we stopped importing people like they were cattle to prop up our dead economy we would not have 50 or two hundred people show up for one job.

                As for a housing allowance, we already have that. It is called the Accommodation Benefit/Supplement, any teacher can apply if they are happy to totally and utterly lay bare their financials to a drone at the WINZ department.

                So you need another benefit. I thougth that the National Party wants to get people of the benefit, lest they get used to the largess of the government generosity.

      • Reddelusion 11.1.2

        What proportion of NZ citizens are housed vs not housed, and what proportion who are not houses can individual responsibility vs lack of morale state intervention be blamed

        • One Anonymous Bloke 11.1.2.1

          Blame is useless, a clear admission of failure, and where a government is concerned, abdication of responsibility.

          The “personal responsibility” lie is a lie, and even were it not so, you’d have no excuse because there are more homeless people and unemployed under National: why do so many more people make bad choices whenever they form a government? Oops.

          The fact is, inequality and poverty respond to other influences than blame and right wing myths. You deny those influences, fuck knows why, and get out of the way.

    • AmaKiwi 11.2

      @ alwyn

      You make an interesting point.

      50 applicants could indicate a depression with 30% unemployment. But in this case it is because Auckland house prices and rents have become bizarrely over priced due to tax breaks for property investors.

      Teachers in Beverly Hills, California, can afford to live in the area because their salaries are so much higher than salaries in Podunk, Iowa.

      An Auckland teacher I know well would move to Australia “in a heartbeat” except for a personal situation which makes that impossible at present.

      • alwyn 11.2.1

        ” would move to Australia “in a heartbeat””.
        I am sure such people still exist. Not nearly as many as there were ten years ago though. Part of the housing problem we have in Auckland is the enormous number of people who did move to Australia and who are now returning because conditions here in many industries are now vastly better than they are on the other side of the ditch.

  12. Sabine 12

    oh the temerity of people for wanting to be well educated workers? Or would you rather that Kiwis are gonna be grocery bag packers and our dear teachers are being imported on slave wages.
    Well i guess that is the plan of our dear National Party led Government.

    You could always ask dear Leader and his stooges where are the jobs! Oh yeah, free market not creating any?

    • AmaKiwi 12.1

      The jobs are NOT in Vietnam, which is why we need TPPA so those underpaid Vietnamese can work here. (sarc)

      • Sabine 12.1.1

        nah, we just give them a student visa 🙂

        after all they have no issues with untrained teachers working at charter schools.

  13. AsleepWhileWalking 13

    Predictable, and has been going on behind the scenes for at least a couple of years now. MSM didn’t think it was important.

  14. adam 14

    I wonder when the middle class are going to wake up to the fact that one driver in their so called growth in wealth, through their houses, is being driven by their own taxes via the accommodation supplement?

    Best con ever? Or just another example of the poor money management skills of a national government bereft of ideas?

    • Siobhan 14.1

      Housing propped up by the accommodation allowance AND subsidies to make their investment fit for purpose…and crap wages subsidized by ‘Working for Families’.

      Maybe if Labour get in they can introduce Food Stamps.

      It seems to be the so called Lefts job to bring in policies that soften the blow of our slow descent and allow National to maintain their otherwise intolerable agenda.

      • Sabine 14.1.1

        and here we have a winner.

      • AB 14.1.2

        Neatly put Siobhan – it’s no use temporarily muzzling the pit bull if the next owner is going to take the muzzle off again. Perhaps you have to shoot it?

  15. whateva next? 15

    They will have to teach their own children, nurse their own sick and serve their own lattes, and it serves them right if they don’t care that those serving them don’t have a roof over their heads.

  16. save nz 16

    Don’t worry it is part of the master plan to rid Auckland of Kiwis (for starters) so that it is a rich person outpost for other trade countries. It has the added advantage of lowering the standard and cultural capital for kids in our country (similar to TVNZ using cheap USA kids programs so they don’t have to bother to use local content) by having foreign teachers teaching them and destroying the teachers unions. Interesting article on this http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/07/18/rust-never-sleeps-and-the-business-roundtable-always-wants-more-unearned-wealth-from-the-rest-of-us/

  17. Paul 17

    Auckland will become like London.
    Unaffordable for its citizens.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahWgxw9E_h4

    • ropata 17.1

      Queenstown is following the Aspen model of an “empty town” of unoccupied “billionaire holiday homes”.

      San Francisco is the model for Auckland’s future: essential workers cannot afford to live there, and forced into ridiculous 2 hour commutes, would leave in a heartbeat if they didn’t have family commitments keeping them anchored. Even highly paid professionals are sharing apartments and paying higher rents than anyone would expect a mortgage to cost.

  18. Craig H 18

    Here’s my theory:

    0.5% land tax on land above $250,000.
    1% land tax on land above $500,000.
    1% land tax on unimproved privately-owned urban land regardless of value.
    1% capital value tax on unoccupied urban houses – defined as unoccupied for 6+ months in a year. Can be detected by (lack of) water/electricity use. Can be legislated for by requiring power companies, for example, to notify authorities of empty houses or number of days in a year with power use below a particular threshold. People genuinely off the grid or mostly reliant on solar can get an exemption for their own residence.

    (these figures are flexible – the concept is more important than the specific details)

    Land tax is collected by councils with rates and a reasonable amount is paid to them as administration costs.

    Carbon tax of some reasonable amount and increasing over time.

    Money raised is used to pay for state housing and infrastructure. Good quality rail counts as infrastructure, including commuter rail (which might be light rail). Building new commuter towns is fine by me. Houses would be eco-friendly with solar panels and power storage where feasible (those Musk batteries look good but people might have better ideas).

    State house rental is 25% of family income with no maximum figure. People will not be moved on, but there is no cap on rent, so they may choose to move on if the rent is higher than market rent, or the houses will be sold to them and replaced. State houses are allocated on need first, but will be sold to occupants over time and replaced with new stock using the funds raised.

    When sold to occupants, state houses are sold for 3.5 x household income. For the median household income, that would be ~$240,000.

    Those land tax figures should raise a decent amount, so there should be some cash to splash out on the deliberately redistributive plans.

  19. Nigel Cameron 19

    Fair enough a house price crash would cause too much of a downturn. So obviously lower and middle incomes need to rise a lot. Checkout staff should be on $30 an hour. Teachers , Nurses etc should be on $120K per year. There is enough money currently being squandered on Executives in the private sector and just general wastage in local and central Govt to pay for the increases. At the same time surely only NZ citizens should be allowed to own NZ property of any sort. Residential property should be for be primarily for owner occupiers so a cap on residential landholdings should be in place . If investors want to gamble on property they can do that with commercial property . It might even get some of these lazy ass investors thinking about investing in businesses .

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    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    6 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    6 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    8 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    11 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    11 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    12 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    13 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    14 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    16 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
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