Good times, the rightwing lowered taxes to stimulate borrowing – well that’s what it looks like now. Then along came reality. Oil price trends decimated future value, citizens were forced to pay down debt, target low energy activities and investments. The few countries still hitting profits, China, Australia, Germany, all have good attributes that raise their short to medium term prospects. So now that citizens have the wisdom to save (or forced to), the National government slugs them with higher taxes, GST hike, higher burden of taxation on lower and middle income earners, few services (thus higher costs to them), cut kiwisaver, and what is National doing with this windfall? Charity cases in hard times, overly generous farm subsidies, tax cuts for the top band of tax payers, and inappropriate emphasis on roading.
How should government make us all more productive? Lower the cost of moving around – public transport, lower the cost of borrowing. A capital gains tax – reduce borrowing competition from the non-trade-able sector. Broadband already everywhere.
But no! National have done nothing but keep digging, and save the farming industry from what? A growing population globally giving up buying food? Please. Those in farming who are rich are rich enough, those who aren’t should not be in farming if they could not run without massive debt. The farm debt is dead weight around our necks.
Either the farm sector is heavily under water, in debt, in a time of commodities booming and so massively in need of reform, or farmers have been dodging taxes.
Has anybody in Labour approached Tapu Misa and asked her to stand for them in South Auckland. She is the only columnist in the Herald who has any sense, she has profile and she is clever. Maggie who?
Tapu Misa writes that the agnostic PM’s support is at risk as the Budget makes Government priorities crystal clear.
Some Christians I know who voted for National in the last election because they liked the look of John Key and disliked Helen Clark and her godless gay-loving feminist anti-smacking family-unfriendly Labour Party have changed their minds.
And PS: I like this bit:
Jesus focused on poverty and justice and helping “the least of these”. Yet many Christians seem inclined to see morality in narrow terms. But what is more destructive to family values – the lack of a living wage, or the legalisation of same-sex marriages?
80% of the people in this country earn less than $60,000 p.a. It’s time to stand up for them so that they are convinced to turn out to vote for the Left.
Blinglish is off on a jaunt to Singapore and area to sell New Zealand as an investment place.( or was it just sell NZ??). I cant remember where i saw the article.
So John Key thinks that making farmers pay for their pollution will make the price of milk and cheese go up. Funny that. As stated by Trevor Mallard farmers have responded to complaints about the price of milk by saying that they are set by the market and they have no control over them.
Increased market prices are out of their control but increased expenses require them to increase prices. What the??
He doesn’t care whether it has any credibility, or whether it is contrary to previous utterings, as long as it gets a headline. See my post above for another example.
When a banker speaks he lies. John Key was a scammer and and his speciality, the derivatives trade is what is collapsing our economic system. He made his money getting bonuses on the derivatives trade which is merely gambling. So what do you expect?
I find it very hard not to say I told you so but what’s the point. The damage is and will be done as long as the average kiwi thinks that the sun shines out of JK’s ass. At least it seems some people are waking up.
MS the farmers have control on the price they paid for the farm and the indebtness that the farm is in. If the returns are marginal then buy the farm at a lower value, as the farm value is based on economic value, returns etc. Trouble is when there are foreign investors able, willing and allowed to pay a greater value (than many would consider it worth) or to buy up a failed farm just to get rid of US$ even if for many they are overpaying for it. Sonner have a farm than a bank full of US$.
If a grower has a supply contract with a major supermarket, the supermarket will set the price they pay for produce and squeeze the supplier if extra costs become associated with the product in question. (They’ll also increase costs to the consumer, but anyway.)
So, if Fonterra have extra costs associated with dairy production, they will protect the corporate profit level and squeeze the dairy farmer. Meaning that economy of scale will become an increasing necessity and smaller farmers will be forced to intensify their operations until such times as they are forced out of business.
Might not be the same scenario if there was a straight forward carbon tax rather than a wheeling and dealing carbon trading market controlled by bankers and corporations.
We certainly need more Co-Operatives . With worker participation . why not allow farm workers to have shares in Fonterra ?
However I find it a bit amusing when these rich farmers lecture us on the evils of wicked socialism when their co-operative milk company is pure socialism.
Are farmers the shareholders or are they merely stakeholders who receive dividends that are quantitatively different to the dividends payed to the shareholders who buy and sell Fonterra shares on the stock market?
And what is cooperative about the management structure? Who makes the decisions to acquire land overseas for example? Who decides what monies will be reinvested and what the nature of the reinvestment should be? Who decides what happens to monies not reinvested? Etc, etc, etc.
I could be wrong and will be happy to be corrected. But Fonterra strikes me as being parallel to the bad old central command economic model where producers, instead of being tied to the state in this case, are tied to a particular corporate body. In neither case is the producer necessarily wealthy or advantaged. That’s not to say that rich dairy farmers do not exist. But I’m far from convinced that all dairy farmers are wealthy. And I’m not convinced that the dairy industry isn’t deliberately geared to ‘kill off’ small and medium sized farmers over the medium to long term.
And with the ETS would it be the individual farmer who buys and sells credits, or the corporate body? And if it’s the corporate body, then what incentive exists for individual farmers to invest time, energy or money in reducing emissions?
Fonterra like most co-op operations transfer their “profits” to their shareholders and these shareholders pay the tax bill. See link Fonterras profit $1.86b tax ($28m) so they are able to deduct the fonterra cost at a rate of what profit they make, so there is no profit, this is a great mechanism to push profits to the farmer and then allowing the industry to min tax payments. Otherwise if Fonterra make massive profits the farmer would be at a cash lost and report tax losses but never get the benefit of these losses, as to obtain bebenfit from losses at some stage you have to make profits at least equal to the losses. http://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/53495/dairy-farmers-pay-lower-tax-couple-pension-ird-says-fonterra-gets-tax-credits-fair-
Aargh Radio New Zealand is interviewing Trotter and Farrar to talk about Labour’s policies. Overly critical left and obsequious to Key right are both represented.
Why can’t they also have a Labour paid party hack to comment on Labour policy?
And by the way Trotter the conference was anything but subdued. The mood was determined and focussed.
Yes mickey. Trotter is no friend of the Left. Farrar just gets stuck in from the Right’s point of view. But Trotter mulls the pros and cons in an academic fashion and leaves the Left hanging.
Trotter goes out of his way to curry favour with whichever right-wing commentator he is paired with, “for balance”. It’s funny, because he makes all the concessions, and his “opponent”—whether it’s Michele Boag, Larry Williams, Graeme Hunt (RIP), Michael Bassett, Jock Anderson, David Farrar or any other National Party apologist—never concede anything.
Trotter appears to be playing some sort of long-range strategy; if I’m nice and accommodating on this occasion, then Michele Boag (for instance) will be reasonable and measured in her comments some time in the future.
Exactly. The Left always bends over to accommodate the centre and the right, and always gets shafted.
The Right might throw bones to the centre, but in the end it does exactly what suits itself, and won’t even bother to pretend to consult with you while doing it.
Right now on National Radio, there’s another wimp-walloping being administered. It’s “From the Left and Right”, with the impressive right winger Matthew Hooton up against not Sue Bradford, Andrew Campbell, Mike Williams or Lila Harre, all of whom give as good as they get, but John Pagani, who like Tim Watkin and Chris Trotter, is accustomed to playing the patsy role, and being steam-rollered.
Grrr, I have just heard an advertisement where Geoff Robinson says “Morning Report, telling it like it is”. And then I heard the unmistakable tones of David Farrar criticising Labour’s R&D policy.
Has Morning Report become a mouthpiece for the Government?
The choice is appalling. I can feel a letter of complaint coming on.
Carville was no progressive. He was, and is, a cynical operator who fitted in perfectly with that liar and criminal he connived and spun for so tirelessly.
I agree ianmac. I have been having doubts about Trotter for some time.
Whilst he claims leftish sympathy’s he certainly spends a lot of time bashing the Labour Party . I’m turning off Trotter rapidly. He used to spend his time critizising the right , however he seems have a lot of praise for Key and his cronies. What’s going on ?
Mike Leigh, interviewed by Lynn Freeman
Radio New Zealand National, Monday 23 May 2011, 10:10 a.m.
The great director cannot hide a certain amount of impatience with Freeman’s narrow and off-beam questions, so the interview is peppered with little signs of testiness: “Obviously. … As I’ve already said… Again, you see, you talk about character, and I’m concerned most of all with establishing a sense of place…”
A few selections from the interview…
LYNN FREEMAN: The desperation of your characters—
MIKE LEIGH: There’s nothing desperate about them!
LYNN FREEMAN: There seems to be a lot of yourself in your characters.
MIKE LEIGH: I’m not interested in talking about myself.
LYNN FREEMAN: You use a lot of close-ups in your work.
MIKE LEIGH: I don’t think about closeups as an affectation or fetish. Long shots are just as important. It seems to me to be entirely academic.
LYNN FREEMAN: Oh, I don’t mean to turn this into an academic exercise. I know you’re intuitive.
MIKE LEIGH: Yeah, again, I don’t like to think about that. There are dramatists for whom silence is a fetish.
LYNN FREEMAN: What’s the U.K. film scene like?
MIKE LEIGH: Internationally, there is a funding problem. The incoming, irresponsible government abolished the Film Council.
LYNN FREEMAN: What is your next film project?
MIKE LEIGH: In the way we made Topsy Turvy about Gilbert and Sullivan, we want to make a film about JMW Turner.
Last night I heard of a comment made by Bill English that building more prisons was immoral and economically irresponsible. Not sure if I heard right as I was on the phone. If he did say that then that is rather amazing. Anyone else hear that?
English made that comment on Q&A yesterday. Watch the interview yourself as that wasn’t precisely the wording he used, but it seemed like what he did intend. Surprising I know.
Thanks CV. Liked the intro: “Kim Workman from Re-thinking Crime and Punishment told TV ONE’s Breakfast that Bill English’s stance on prisons is the right one, even if it is for the wrong reasons.”
Yes. Bill is just looking it from the money side rather that from an ethical or moral viewpoint. That Kim Workman is a great advocate for sensible sentencing but in the opposite way to the SST. Ironic really.
Blinglish is just framing the corrections issue as a fiscal problem to set the stage for another act in the privatization play.
1. Portray Prisons as expensive
2. Assert that the private sector can make prisons more affordable.
3. Continue with reducing conditions inside jails and pushing through harsher sentencing and enforcement. Claim ‘the people want us to be harder on crime’
4. Sell either the infrastructure or the operations or both leaving us with sub standard facilities and providers with a reason (profit) to make sure that reform is not something that ever happens inside.
two points today.
1. CRI wants more investment but remember when Lou Gerstner took over IBM. he found literally hundreds of money earning opportuniteis had been shelved by the managers who didnt think they fit with IBM’s style.
CRI needs a good looking at.
2. Hooton accused Phil O’Rilley of being a stooge for Nick smith and representing Nick smith to business and not business to Nick Smith.
so who does Hooton represent? Methinks he represents those right wing mini-nutbars (wannabees) that get their their beans in the last chapter of superior splatter novels. tell me I’m wrong why dont you.
travellerev yesterday on Open Mike made this point about the sexiam of men in the USA finance trading houses.. What I’m saying is that male and female as forces and energies can balance each other but it still requires a massive amount of work and goodwill. The banking world and the corporate world have a tendency to stray to the male side of things I hope you will agree with me though.
I have been thinking about how quickly advances in the standing of females in society can be demolished. Tough competition for advancement as in the world of big finance, war and other excuses can sweep away apparently good men’s standards and the vestiges of any standards others might have absorbed from their parents and a supposedly civilised and advanced society.
Another male-dominated world is the armed forces one. In a recent Australian case two ‘equal’ people were having private sex, but actually the males organised to watch it all on video. So much for those males’ understanding of the mutual respect that should go with equality. There have been cases of women bosses not respecting their male employees too. Yes “it still requires a massive amount of work and goodwill’.
We hear now that Gaddafi encouraged his Libyan government troops to strip young women in front of their families and then gang rape them. So far estimate is about 1,000 women, but as one girl was violated by 20 men, many more men might have been involved. The youngest so far is 14 years. Seeing that this is a very conservative society as to sex, as to women’s modesty, as to control of women as possessions, treasure to be hidden away from prying eyes etc etc. this is a flagrant violation of their own society’s rules.
Men engaging in this behaviour encourage and allow each other to be depraved and degenerate – war gives a free pass on this apparently. But the troops will always know what shits they have been. It must sit in the back of their minds like a festering sore.
I’m convinced they do those stupid polls in Ilam, Fendalton, North Shore, and Remuera. Everyone I know hates the current government, but then again I live in a Labour town. Ah well, the country will get the government it deserves. Embrace the consequences, peasants.
How did the country rack up such huge private debt?
It stems from Douglas and his fellow travelling zealots removing exchange controls.
We then had a blow out of speculators while Rob’s mob have been suffering
ever since. The decent ordinary bloke, who is not, himself, in hock, is having to pay
for the greed and recklessness of Brash and co. And the free marketeers will
go to great lengths to defend all the TINA’s of the world.
Cullen should have put his foot down on the private debt issue in 2003, 2004, 2005. He could have made it far more expensive for banks to source money overseas, added a levy to every mortgage, enforced minimum deposit rules, encouraged the market for new economical housing – and built a few thousand more himself.
But all the MPs were making money on their investment properties and no one seemed to be unhappy that they were getting richer on paper.
How did the country rack up such huge private debt?
It stems from Douglas and his fellow travelling zealots removing exchange controls.
It’s more complicated than that. It has to do more with the way capitalism is designed to channel money to the few and how that money is then reintegrated back into the economy. I still haven’t got the logic totally clear but it’s something like this:
1) Wealth accumulates to the capitalist
2) The rich loan that money out at interest – usually to banks and other financial organisations
2a) Due to there not being enough money within the economy to support the capital + interest the banks use the Fractional Reserve banking system to print more money which is loaned out at interest
3) Banks pay the rich their capital+interest while keeping the interest that they charged on top of the rich peoples charges + the interest that they get from printing money
4) Goto 1
First it’s businesses that are taking out cautious loans to grow their business, then the middle class start taking out loans to prop up their lifestyle because wages are falling due to more and more of the money going to the banks/rich and, eventually, the lower class start taking out loans because there’s a huge amount of nearly free money going around and they need the loans to live and the banks/finance companies need to make the loans to maintain profits.
Thanks for the analysis.
However, I think you cannot ignore that Douglas simply copied Howe of Thatchers 79 government. They removed exchange controls and money flowed freely and without tracking.
They new that, from that point, if their was ever a sign of a shift towards a left wing administration, people would be able to move their money offshore. The incoming elected government would have empty coffers, would fail in its socialist agenda, and the right would be reelected and the money would pour back in…
One of the points (which I didn’t make clear) of my logic is that such an a freeing up of capital is needed as the system needs more and more people to borrow money else returns to capital decrease rather than increase (Also note that returns to capital, especially the banks, will increase beyond sustainability and is the driving force of middle/lower class borrowing as return to labour decreases). Hence the RWNJs removing exchange controls.
We never needed offshore capital. We have all the resources we need right here in NZ.
It comes back down to the power of capital/unbridled markets versus the power of labour/communities.
The latter must be strengthened and the former must be limited to the role we wish it to play.
The power of money to make money has to be harnessed to work for the community and to work for labour. The power of capitalists and money lenders to focus on money for money’s sake needs to be fundamentally curbed.
Money cannot make money. It is only a tool that helps with exchanges of value but has no value itself.
The power of capitalists and money lenders to focus on money for money’s sake needs to be fundamentally curbed.
Not just curbed but stopped.
Government prints the money @ 0% interest, and gives it to cooperative start ups as support until such time as they are capable of maintaining themselves or it becomes obvious that they will never be viable. If the start up never becomes viable it is dissolved and the physical resources either reused elsewhere in the economy or recycled back into raw resource. The people supported through whatever changes they need to make to continue on.
No interest bearing money owed anywhere with the government collecting taxes, not to pay for it’s services (The government commands all the resources of the community at our behest after all), but to prevent monetary build up in the economy.
MARCH/RALLY: Budget 2011 DON’T CUT OUR FUTURE.From cuts to student loans, Kiwi Saver, working for families to asset sales and privatisation. Civilised society is under threat. “When good people lay idle, evil prospers”. Stand up NZ before it’s to late! please distribute to your email lists,newsletters facebook, twitter, txt and talk to your friends, groups and neighbours. Thanks
More info (including where you can get leaflets for March) call CSJ 09 8366389 or 0212106720 or email capwaitakere@xtra.co.nz Coalition for Social Justice.(members of community groups, churches, unions et al)
Sad? Fuck off and have your cry somewhere else.
People are pissed off with what the government have done, and with what they plan to do. They have the right to protest, they have the right to encourage people to join them using language like this, which is pretty mild IMO.
Petty politics? There are some fundamental differences between what the government believes and what the organisers of this protest believe. These differences are far from petty.
Yes, I am very unhappy at the direction NAct is aiming to take the country & at their abuse of democratic process to rush through law changes, like the one to kiwisaver. I am pleased to see that some people are getting organised and have a demonstration planned – and, for once, on a Saturday when I am not working. So I will probably go. It looks like it’s being organsied by a collection fo different groups.
The Current Account as I understand it explains how much we receive from foreign earnings and how much we pay foreigners for imports. Traditionally it is in deficit as we use more foreign funds than we earn. The Current Account deficit as a percentage of GDP is currently about -2.3%. That’s the fifth best in over 35. The last time it was this low was 10 years ago. No doubt boom commodity export prices are helping the cause.
Anyway, can someone explain why we are so concerned about borrowing abroad, which we have always done, if we are in fact improving our ability to pay our way.
Is this overseas debt issue a contrived beat up?
If we were borrowing capital from foreign sources in order to build up productive infrastructure, advanced plant and equipment in NZ, it might be considered a good use of that borrowing. As a result of our investments, our workforce would become more productive and our exports overseas would be of higher value. We would be able to pay back that foreign debt and keep the surplus for ourselves.
That is not what we have used those foreign borrowings for however – it has gone into consumer spending and property speculation. Now we have to pay the debt back plus interest using scarce foreign capital. And in reality we are just adding more to the credit card each week so we aren’t paying anything back.
The issue with property price speculation is that we now have a generation of farmers who aren’t real farmers any more. They are property speculators who happen to do a bit of farming while waiting for their farms to appreciate in capital value. Sometimes they went into major major debt (to foreign banks) so that they were able to buy a farm to do just that.
A fundamental capitalist measure is Return on Investment. Let’s say a good sized farm was worth $1M to buy and it could generate $200,000 in income during a year: a worthwhile 20% ROI.
After crazy property price bubble inflation that same farm might now be worth $5M. But you can’t just quintiple the production of the farm. Nature doesn’t work that way.
Now the same ROI on the farm is only 4%. And if the farmer is paying 5.5% interest on a $5M mortgage, he is going backwards financially every day.
Hence a huge amount of pressure to work the land harder, put more cows on per hectare, risk pollution and disease, just to try and stay ahead.
And also praying every single day that a Chinese buyer will swoop in and buy his $5M farm for $10M.
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Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
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:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track 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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
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Good times, the rightwing lowered taxes to stimulate borrowing – well that’s what it looks like now. Then along came reality. Oil price trends decimated future value, citizens were forced to pay down debt, target low energy activities and investments. The few countries still hitting profits, China, Australia, Germany, all have good attributes that raise their short to medium term prospects. So now that citizens have the wisdom to save (or forced to), the National government slugs them with higher taxes, GST hike, higher burden of taxation on lower and middle income earners, few services (thus higher costs to them), cut kiwisaver, and what is National doing with this windfall? Charity cases in hard times, overly generous farm subsidies, tax cuts for the top band of tax payers, and inappropriate emphasis on roading.
How should government make us all more productive? Lower the cost of moving around – public transport, lower the cost of borrowing. A capital gains tax – reduce borrowing competition from the non-trade-able sector. Broadband already everywhere.
But no! National have done nothing but keep digging, and save the farming industry from what? A growing population globally giving up buying food? Please. Those in farming who are rich are rich enough, those who aren’t should not be in farming if they could not run without massive debt. The farm debt is dead weight around our necks.
Either the farm sector is heavily under water, in debt, in a time of commodities booming and so massively in need of reform, or farmers have been dodging taxes.
Has anybody in Labour approached Tapu Misa and asked her to stand for them in South Auckland. She is the only columnist in the Herald who has any sense, she has profile and she is clever. Maggie who?
It’s a gem this morning, Bored. Six months like this and the election will be far from a certainty for National.
[lprent: Fixed your link (I was puzzled). ]
I also find her columns excellent. Todays, a gem indeed. Agree with Bored and Armchair Critic.
The wrong link surely? Pitcairn Island?
It looks like it should be this one:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10727378
And PS: I like this bit:
Wot she said, Tanz.
Oops, sorry. And it’s too late to edit it. Thanks Carol.
Tapu is a treasure. And she’s far too smart to enter politics.
Brilliant!
I just have to up the vitriol on this one… John Key is a fuckwit.
In Christchurch this weekend he celebrated the growth of the EQC as an example of growth in Christchurch.
What a fuckwit you are Key. Not just a dick, or a wanker, or a charlatan, or a whoring money-dealer, or a clown. You are a fuckwit.
And here’s another two for you to add to your gloat list of growing industry – coroners and ambulance drivers.
Fuck off and don’t come back.
No vitriol here, vto. He is. Time for the left to stop being polite.
And stop pandering to the right-of-centre.
80% of the people in this country earn less than $60,000 p.a. It’s time to stand up for them so that they are convinced to turn out to vote for the Left.
And does anyone remember when he said in the house that NZ was fast becoming one of the PIGS? another lie.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10727443
Blinglish is off on a jaunt to Singapore and area to sell New Zealand as an investment place.( or was it just sell NZ??). I cant remember where i saw the article.
Blinglish was off to Asia to sell NZ as a place of cheap labour IIRC.
I think the article was in Open Mike a couple of days ago – I believe I posted it.
So John Key thinks that making farmers pay for their pollution will make the price of milk and cheese go up. Funny that. As stated by Trevor Mallard farmers have responded to complaints about the price of milk by saying that they are set by the market and they have no control over them.
Increased market prices are out of their control but increased expenses require them to increase prices. What the??
micky, Key just keeps making shit up.
He doesn’t care whether it has any credibility, or whether it is contrary to previous utterings, as long as it gets a headline. See my post above for another example.
He is a duplicitous whore.
When a banker speaks he lies. John Key was a scammer and and his speciality, the derivatives trade is what is collapsing our economic system. He made his money getting bonuses on the derivatives trade which is merely gambling. So what do you expect?
I find it very hard not to say I told you so but what’s the point. The damage is and will be done as long as the average kiwi thinks that the sun shines out of JK’s ass. At least it seems some people are waking up.
MS the farmers have control on the price they paid for the farm and the indebtness that the farm is in. If the returns are marginal then buy the farm at a lower value, as the farm value is based on economic value, returns etc. Trouble is when there are foreign investors able, willing and allowed to pay a greater value (than many would consider it worth) or to buy up a failed farm just to get rid of US$ even if for many they are overpaying for it. Sonner have a farm than a bank full of US$.
If a grower has a supply contract with a major supermarket, the supermarket will set the price they pay for produce and squeeze the supplier if extra costs become associated with the product in question. (They’ll also increase costs to the consumer, but anyway.)
So, if Fonterra have extra costs associated with dairy production, they will protect the corporate profit level and squeeze the dairy farmer. Meaning that economy of scale will become an increasing necessity and smaller farmers will be forced to intensify their operations until such times as they are forced out of business.
Might not be the same scenario if there was a straight forward carbon tax rather than a wheeling and dealing carbon trading market controlled by bankers and corporations.
Squeeze the dairy farmer?
Don’t worry about it mate, the dairy farmer owns Fonterra.
That’s the beauty of co-operative enterprise, and we need more of them in NZ.
We certainly need more Co-Operatives . With worker participation . why not allow farm workers to have shares in Fonterra ?
However I find it a bit amusing when these rich farmers lecture us on the evils of wicked socialism when their co-operative milk company is pure socialism.
How cooperative is Fonterra?
Are farmers the shareholders or are they merely stakeholders who receive dividends that are quantitatively different to the dividends payed to the shareholders who buy and sell Fonterra shares on the stock market?
And what is cooperative about the management structure? Who makes the decisions to acquire land overseas for example? Who decides what monies will be reinvested and what the nature of the reinvestment should be? Who decides what happens to monies not reinvested? Etc, etc, etc.
I could be wrong and will be happy to be corrected. But Fonterra strikes me as being parallel to the bad old central command economic model where producers, instead of being tied to the state in this case, are tied to a particular corporate body. In neither case is the producer necessarily wealthy or advantaged. That’s not to say that rich dairy farmers do not exist. But I’m far from convinced that all dairy farmers are wealthy. And I’m not convinced that the dairy industry isn’t deliberately geared to ‘kill off’ small and medium sized farmers over the medium to long term.
And with the ETS would it be the individual farmer who buys and sells credits, or the corporate body? And if it’s the corporate body, then what incentive exists for individual farmers to invest time, energy or money in reducing emissions?
Fonterra like most co-op operations transfer their “profits” to their shareholders and these shareholders pay the tax bill. See link Fonterras profit $1.86b tax ($28m) so they are able to deduct the fonterra cost at a rate of what profit they make, so there is no profit, this is a great mechanism to push profits to the farmer and then allowing the industry to min tax payments. Otherwise if Fonterra make massive profits the farmer would be at a cash lost and report tax losses but never get the benefit of these losses, as to obtain bebenfit from losses at some stage you have to make profits at least equal to the losses.
http://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/53495/dairy-farmers-pay-lower-tax-couple-pension-ird-says-fonterra-gets-tax-credits-fair-
Aargh Radio New Zealand is interviewing Trotter and Farrar to talk about Labour’s policies. Overly critical left and obsequious to Key right are both represented.
Why can’t they also have a Labour paid party hack to comment on Labour policy?
And by the way Trotter the conference was anything but subdued. The mood was determined and focussed.
Yes mickey. Trotter is no friend of the Left. Farrar just gets stuck in from the Right’s point of view. But Trotter mulls the pros and cons in an academic fashion and leaves the Left hanging.
Trotter goes out of his way to curry favour with whichever right-wing commentator he is paired with, “for balance”. It’s funny, because he makes all the concessions, and his “opponent”—whether it’s Michele Boag, Larry Williams, Graeme Hunt (RIP), Michael Bassett, Jock Anderson, David Farrar or any other National Party apologist—never concede anything.
Trotter appears to be playing some sort of long-range strategy; if I’m nice and accommodating on this occasion, then Michele Boag (for instance) will be reasonable and measured in her comments some time in the future.
Trouble is, it never happens.
Exactly. The Left always bends over to accommodate the centre and the right, and always gets shafted.
The Right might throw bones to the centre, but in the end it does exactly what suits itself, and won’t even bother to pretend to consult with you while doing it.
Right now on National Radio, there’s another wimp-walloping being administered. It’s “From the Left and Right”, with the impressive right winger Matthew Hooton up against not Sue Bradford, Andrew Campbell, Mike Williams or Lila Harre, all of whom give as good as they get, but John Pagani, who like Tim Watkin and Chris Trotter, is accustomed to playing the patsy role, and being steam-rollered.
Someone pass the lube before permanent injury is done.
Grrr, I have just heard an advertisement where Geoff Robinson says “Morning Report, telling it like it is”. And then I heard the unmistakable tones of David Farrar criticising Labour’s R&D policy.
Has Morning Report become a mouthpiece for the Government?
The choice is appalling. I can feel a letter of complaint coming on.
Isn’t Richard Griffin the new chairman (if that is the right term) of RNZ?
Yes, but despite years of being a media advisor for the National Party, he is still impartial and all that, don’t you know.
It certainly seems so, of late.. Ms Ryan on Nine to Noon, gets very aerated at criticism of Key and co!
Been reading James Carvilles Rules For Progressives.
No 2. Quit Conceding that the other Side Has a Point!
Carville was no progressive. He was, and is, a cynical operator who fitted in perfectly with that liar and criminal he connived and spun for so tirelessly.
In a nutshell: http://images.ucomics.com/comics/db/2003/db030713.gif
I agree ianmac. I have been having doubts about Trotter for some time.
Whilst he claims leftish sympathy’s he certainly spends a lot of time bashing the Labour Party . I’m turning off Trotter rapidly. He used to spend his time critizising the right , however he seems have a lot of praise for Key and his cronies. What’s going on ?
Mike Leigh, interviewed by Lynn Freeman
Radio New Zealand National, Monday 23 May 2011, 10:10 a.m.
The great director cannot hide a certain amount of impatience with Freeman’s narrow and off-beam questions, so the interview is peppered with little signs of testiness: “Obviously. … As I’ve already said… Again, you see, you talk about character, and I’m concerned most of all with establishing a sense of place…”
A few selections from the interview…
LYNN FREEMAN: The desperation of your characters—
MIKE LEIGH: There’s nothing desperate about them!
LYNN FREEMAN: There seems to be a lot of yourself in your characters.
MIKE LEIGH: I’m not interested in talking about myself.
LYNN FREEMAN: You use a lot of close-ups in your work.
MIKE LEIGH: I don’t think about closeups as an affectation or fetish. Long shots are just as important. It seems to me to be entirely academic.
LYNN FREEMAN: Oh, I don’t mean to turn this into an academic exercise. I know you’re intuitive.
MIKE LEIGH: Yeah, again, I don’t like to think about that. There are dramatists for whom silence is a fetish.
LYNN FREEMAN: What’s the U.K. film scene like?
MIKE LEIGH: Internationally, there is a funding problem. The incoming, irresponsible government abolished the Film Council.
LYNN FREEMAN: What is your next film project?
MIKE LEIGH: In the way we made Topsy Turvy about Gilbert and Sullivan, we want to make a film about JMW Turner.
Last night I heard of a comment made by Bill English that building more prisons was immoral and economically irresponsible. Not sure if I heard right as I was on the phone. If he did say that then that is rather amazing. Anyone else hear that?
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/prisons-creating-more-criminals-lobby-group-4184033
English made that comment on Q&A yesterday. Watch the interview yourself as that wasn’t precisely the wording he used, but it seemed like what he did intend. Surprising I know.
Thanks CV. Liked the intro: “Kim Workman from Re-thinking Crime and Punishment told TV ONE’s Breakfast that Bill English’s stance on prisons is the right one, even if it is for the wrong reasons.”
Yes. Bill is just looking it from the money side rather that from an ethical or moral viewpoint. That Kim Workman is a great advocate for sensible sentencing but in the opposite way to the SST. Ironic really.
Key difference between Kim Workman and Garth McTheKnifeVicar: Workman does not attack the victims of knife-killings.
Blinglish is just framing the corrections issue as a fiscal problem to set the stage for another act in the privatization play.
1. Portray Prisons as expensive
2. Assert that the private sector can make prisons more affordable.
3. Continue with reducing conditions inside jails and pushing through harsher sentencing and enforcement. Claim ‘the people want us to be harder on crime’
4. Sell either the infrastructure or the operations or both leaving us with sub standard facilities and providers with a reason (profit) to make sure that reform is not something that ever happens inside.
two points today.
1. CRI wants more investment but remember when Lou Gerstner took over IBM. he found literally hundreds of money earning opportuniteis had been shelved by the managers who didnt think they fit with IBM’s style.
CRI needs a good looking at.
2. Hooton accused Phil O’Rilley of being a stooge for Nick smith and representing Nick smith to business and not business to Nick Smith.
so who does Hooton represent? Methinks he represents those right wing mini-nutbars (wannabees) that get their their beans in the last chapter of superior splatter novels. tell me I’m wrong why dont you.
travellerev yesterday on Open Mike made this point about the sexiam of men in the USA finance trading houses.. What I’m saying is that male and female as forces and energies can balance each other but it still requires a massive amount of work and goodwill. The banking world and the corporate world have a tendency to stray to the male side of things I hope you will agree with me though.
I have been thinking about how quickly advances in the standing of females in society can be demolished. Tough competition for advancement as in the world of big finance, war and other excuses can sweep away apparently good men’s standards and the vestiges of any standards others might have absorbed from their parents and a supposedly civilised and advanced society.
Another male-dominated world is the armed forces one. In a recent Australian case two ‘equal’ people were having private sex, but actually the males organised to watch it all on video. So much for those males’ understanding of the mutual respect that should go with equality. There have been cases of women bosses not respecting their male employees too. Yes “it still requires a massive amount of work and goodwill’.
We hear now that Gaddafi encouraged his Libyan government troops to strip young women in front of their families and then gang rape them. So far estimate is about 1,000 women, but as one girl was violated by 20 men, many more men might have been involved. The youngest so far is 14 years. Seeing that this is a very conservative society as to sex, as to women’s modesty, as to control of women as possessions, treasure to be hidden away from prying eyes etc etc. this is a flagrant violation of their own society’s rules.
Men engaging in this behaviour encourage and allow each other to be depraved and degenerate – war gives a free pass on this apparently. But the troops will always know what shits they have been. It must sit in the back of their minds like a festering sore.
Announcement of John Key’s death.
Your Flickr page is awesome. I especially laughed my tits off at this 🙂 http://www.flickr.com/photos/19473099@N05/5709068602/in/photostream
Aye Sookie
William if your graphics appear in PPP for the left in the near future is that ok?
The more people who get them the better. Go for it!
Oh dear….Labour going up? in the polls?
Clearly not….http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2011/4669/
….oh it was before the budget….so it wont really count right?
And ACT doubled their vote – must be the Brash effect.
Now all ACT need to do is double it, and double it again, and they’ll be over the 5% threshold
I’m convinced they do those stupid polls in Ilam, Fendalton, North Shore, and Remuera. Everyone I know hates the current government, but then again I live in a Labour town. Ah well, the country will get the government it deserves. Embrace the consequences, peasants.
They ring “randomised” people who have landlines. Problem, pretty much only conservatives have land lines these days.
+1
However I also firmly believe that the country deserves a Labour led Government 🙂
Ive just seen that – Dont want our guys peaking too early though do we!
Yeah its a very long road to go. If this was the poll 14 days before the election I might be nervous 😛
How did the country rack up such huge private debt?
It stems from Douglas and his fellow travelling zealots removing exchange controls.
We then had a blow out of speculators while Rob’s mob have been suffering
ever since. The decent ordinary bloke, who is not, himself, in hock, is having to pay
for the greed and recklessness of Brash and co. And the free marketeers will
go to great lengths to defend all the TINA’s of the world.
Cullen should have put his foot down on the private debt issue in 2003, 2004, 2005. He could have made it far more expensive for banks to source money overseas, added a levy to every mortgage, enforced minimum deposit rules, encouraged the market for new economical housing – and built a few thousand more himself.
But all the MPs were making money on their investment properties and no one seemed to be unhappy that they were getting richer on paper.
It’s more complicated than that. It has to do more with the way capitalism is designed to channel money to the few and how that money is then reintegrated back into the economy. I still haven’t got the logic totally clear but it’s something like this:
1) Wealth accumulates to the capitalist
2) The rich loan that money out at interest – usually to banks and other financial organisations
2a) Due to there not being enough money within the economy to support the capital + interest the banks use the Fractional Reserve banking system to print more money which is loaned out at interest
3) Banks pay the rich their capital+interest while keeping the interest that they charged on top of the rich peoples charges + the interest that they get from printing money
4) Goto 1
First it’s businesses that are taking out cautious loans to grow their business, then the middle class start taking out loans to prop up their lifestyle because wages are falling due to more and more of the money going to the banks/rich and, eventually, the lower class start taking out loans because there’s a huge amount of nearly free money going around and they need the loans to live and the banks/finance companies need to make the loans to maintain profits.
Thanks for the analysis.
However, I think you cannot ignore that Douglas simply copied Howe of Thatchers 79 government. They removed exchange controls and money flowed freely and without tracking.
They new that, from that point, if their was ever a sign of a shift towards a left wing administration, people would be able to move their money offshore. The incoming elected government would have empty coffers, would fail in its socialist agenda, and the right would be reelected and the money would pour back in…
True.
One of the points (which I didn’t make clear) of my logic is that such an a freeing up of capital is needed as the system needs more and more people to borrow money else returns to capital decrease rather than increase (Also note that returns to capital, especially the banks, will increase beyond sustainability and is the driving force of middle/lower class borrowing as return to labour decreases). Hence the RWNJs removing exchange controls.
We never needed offshore capital. We have all the resources we need right here in NZ.
+1
It comes back down to the power of capital/unbridled markets versus the power of labour/communities.
The latter must be strengthened and the former must be limited to the role we wish it to play.
The power of money to make money has to be harnessed to work for the community and to work for labour. The power of capitalists and money lenders to focus on money for money’s sake needs to be fundamentally curbed.
Money cannot make money. It is only a tool that helps with exchanges of value but has no value itself.
Not just curbed but stopped.
Government prints the money @ 0% interest, and gives it to cooperative start ups as support until such time as they are capable of maintaining themselves or it becomes obvious that they will never be viable. If the start up never becomes viable it is dissolved and the physical resources either reused elsewhere in the economy or recycled back into raw resource. The people supported through whatever changes they need to make to continue on.
No interest bearing money owed anywhere with the government collecting taxes, not to pay for it’s services (The government commands all the resources of the community at our behest after all), but to prevent monetary build up in the economy.
Rally against the 2011 Budget, Auckland Saturday 28 May:
http://www.indymedia.org.nz/event/79611/march-against-budget-2011
12 Noon QE2 Square – Opposite Britomart.
“When good people lay idle, evil prospers”
It’s sad to see a strong statement being hijacked by petty politicking.
So why did you comment then? Your comment is, after all, nothing but petty politicking and probably a troll.
If you could put aside your petty politicking Pete you would see just how appropriate this statement is given the current state of affairs in NZ.
Sad? Fuck off and have your cry somewhere else.
People are pissed off with what the government have done, and with what they plan to do. They have the right to protest, they have the right to encourage people to join them using language like this, which is pretty mild IMO.
Petty politics? There are some fundamental differences between what the government believes and what the organisers of this protest believe. These differences are far from petty.
Yes, I am very unhappy at the direction NAct is aiming to take the country & at their abuse of democratic process to rush through law changes, like the one to kiwisaver. I am pleased to see that some people are getting organised and have a demonstration planned – and, for once, on a Saturday when I am not working. So I will probably go. It looks like it’s being organsied by a collection fo different groups.
Gents, like bees to a honeypot you give the attention-seeking delusional one what he craves. Mock and smile is far more effective.
Exactly DNFT
(although I am very guilty of this myself…ha)
A Question for economists!
The Current Account as I understand it explains how much we receive from foreign earnings and how much we pay foreigners for imports. Traditionally it is in deficit as we use more foreign funds than we earn. The Current Account deficit as a percentage of GDP is currently about -2.3%. That’s the fifth best in over 35. The last time it was this low was 10 years ago. No doubt boom commodity export prices are helping the cause.
Anyway, can someone explain why we are so concerned about borrowing abroad, which we have always done, if we are in fact improving our ability to pay our way.
Is this overseas debt issue a contrived beat up?
If we were borrowing capital from foreign sources in order to build up productive infrastructure, advanced plant and equipment in NZ, it might be considered a good use of that borrowing. As a result of our investments, our workforce would become more productive and our exports overseas would be of higher value. We would be able to pay back that foreign debt and keep the surplus for ourselves.
That is not what we have used those foreign borrowings for however – it has gone into consumer spending and property speculation. Now we have to pay the debt back plus interest using scarce foreign capital. And in reality we are just adding more to the credit card each week so we aren’t paying anything back.
Thanks! I guess you can also add in borrowing to buy unprofitable, under contributing farms?
The issue with property price speculation is that we now have a generation of farmers who aren’t real farmers any more. They are property speculators who happen to do a bit of farming while waiting for their farms to appreciate in capital value. Sometimes they went into major major debt (to foreign banks) so that they were able to buy a farm to do just that.
A fundamental capitalist measure is Return on Investment. Let’s say a good sized farm was worth $1M to buy and it could generate $200,000 in income during a year: a worthwhile 20% ROI.
After crazy property price bubble inflation that same farm might now be worth $5M. But you can’t just quintiple the production of the farm. Nature doesn’t work that way.
Now the same ROI on the farm is only 4%. And if the farmer is paying 5.5% interest on a $5M mortgage, he is going backwards financially every day.
Hence a huge amount of pressure to work the land harder, put more cows on per hectare, risk pollution and disease, just to try and stay ahead.
And also praying every single day that a Chinese buyer will swoop in and buy his $5M farm for $10M.