Selling assets to pay for tax cuts for richest 1%

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 7:50 am, January 28th, 2011 - 171 comments
Categories: privatisation, tax - Tags: stats

John Key reckons he can raise $10 billion by selling our assets and their future profits. That’s probably very over-optimistic. But I got wondering, how does that one-off $10 billion compare to the cost of the tax cuts that National has given the wealthiest 1% of Kiwis, which they will continue to get year after year? Answer: not well.

Money now is worth more than money later – a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. To calculate the present value of future money you use a fancy formula (already handily contained in this online calculator) and the discount rate, which is the interest rate. For the government, the interest rate it pays for borrowing is about 5.5%. Which, it turns out, means $10 billion now is worth the same as $550 million each year forever.

Now, how much less tax are the wealthiest 1% of Kiwi taxpayers paying as a result of National’s income tax cuts in 2009 and 2010? IRD’s stats tell us the wealthiest 1% earn over $165,000 of taxable income. They also tell us how many taxpayers are in each band of $5,000 and how much taxable income each band has – allowing us to work out the average income of each band. We can then work out the tax cut for the average income in each band, times it by the number of people in each band, and get a grand total.

Which is $586 million.

The 36,000 people in the top 1% of income earners, with an average income of $289,000 have received, on average, a tax cut of $16,000 from Key’s National Government costing, in total, $586 million a year.

And they’ll keep on getting that $586 million every year. In fact, the size of the tax cut for the top 1% will grow with their incomes – but erring on the low side and just leaving it at $586 million a year, how much is that worth in present value using the government’s discount rate?

$10.6 billion.

In summary:

Present value (optimistic) of Key’s plan to sell our assets if he did it today: $10 billion
Present value of the tax cuts that Key have given to the wealthiest 1% of NZers: $10.6 billion

And this is an extremely generous calculation because I haven’t counted all the dividends we’ll lose if Key sells our assets. In fact, that alone, according to Bernard Hickey and others, makes the present value of Key’s plan less than zero.

This means that, if debt was really a concern, National could simply restore the taxation for the wealthiest 1% of New Zealander’s that they were able to live with very well before 2009 and raise more money than asset sales might and we get to keep our SOEs’ profits. Only people on incomes over $165,000 would be affected. The other 99% of us get to keep the assets, the profits from them that pay for our schools and hospitals, and our sweet, sweet tax cuts.

Now, some of you are saying ‘yes, Marty, but the government needs the money now, not in $586 million blocks every year forever’. To which there are two answers: 1) we wouldn’t be getting the asset sale money for years anyway because these things take time to organise, indeed the deficit will be all but gone by the time these sales are ready to happen 2) ratings agencies can do the maths too, they know that increasing the government’s revenue by $586 million per year every year is more than getting a one-off of $10 billion.

Why do you think National is determined to sell assets when undoing its own tax cuts for just 1% of the population would be so much easier and more beneficial to the country in the long-run? Could it be that this isn’t about debt at all?

Could it be that debt is just the excuse they came up with so that the rich can keep their enourmous tax cuts and buy our assets cheaply?

The thing I note about this picture: it’s the whole households’ floorboards but only the rich guy in the suit is being kept warm.

171 comments on “Selling assets to pay for tax cuts for richest 1% ”

Comments are now closed

LynW 1

28 January 2011 at 8:13 am

Thanks for such an excellent rationale and also enjoyed your very insightful comment on the cartoon!
tony 2

28 January 2011 at 8:27 am

Gota say…Cunliffe (sounding like Cullen) was great on Nat Rad this morning on the subject of Burning the Family’s Floorboards. I reckon he could wipe the smile off Key’s face given half a chance. English wouldn’t have a sh!t show.

Goff just needs to let him off the leash.
arants 3

28 January 2011 at 8:28 am

“Could it be that debt is just the excuse they came up with so that the rich can keep their enourmous tax cuts and buy our assets cheaply?”

Could it be that we’ve lost sight of the big picture. These measures are ‘forced’ on NZ by a strategic deficit representing the culmination of years of work by National & the Treasury. We’ve bought into it.

In using tax cuts as a central theme, Goff’s lame ‘State of the Nation’ address effectively embraced the whole strategic deficit narrative, handicapping those in his team that actually ‘get it’ in the privatisation battle and broader economic analysis. Clark & Cullen resisted tax cuts for a long time before caving in, but now the surrender is complete. While tax cuts remain central to the discourse there’s no way back for Labour and its values. Instead we’re left arguing technical details.
- ZeeBop 3.1
  
  29 January 2011 at 4:14 am
  
  We in NZ reward the bookerkeepers and the shopkeepers were happy, the farmers were happy, the house buyers were happy, but the manufacturers and innovators lost out. Good times are over. The Goof Ball years of living easy on cheap high density energy gushing from growing numbers of oil wells is over. Labour is right, it is the tax system stupid, yet Labours policy of how it is the tax system is still hard to work out for good reason. Is Goff a Goof ball?
  
  NZ’s are glib, they the two second experts on everything, they’re told they can assume that we have to pay for health care, that we have to help the innovators by ignoring the problem that innovators have because innovators are super human and just need better bookkeepers to throw money at them (fiscal controls and so future profits without the risk exposure to bookkeepers), and so innovators problems will go away with the savior bookkeepers around. Unfortuately its not that easy, you see fairness and science are one and the same. When you are being fair you have walked in the shoes of those you talk about, just as a good science tries to mind meld with their subject. NZ is not a fair society, since kiwis don’t think they have to know why (for instance) the UK has a universal free healthcare system that so utterly proves the assumption private is good public is wrong. The basic lack of willness to walk in the shoes of others, the basic undercurrent that being caught without a opinion (cloaked in the rightwing unfair ethos prevading NZ) is too much for most kiwis to bear. To actually do the scientific thing and investigate their own assumptions. Socrete’s put it something like this, the unreflected life is not worth living. Kiwis are breed to be flightless (those that fly do so early and get the hell out of here and aren’t called kiwi anymore). There’s a reason cultural shifts in NZ take 30 years to catch up with ROW, kiwis will point out how when NZ last had a spourt of innovation at the turn of the last century (when some british suffergettes got off the boat) how they as a society have been at the forefront ever since ;-).
  
  NZ is a great country, NZ is a beautiful country, far less stark than Australia but so much more depth, yet we sell if off in increasely bigger fire sales to feed the bookkeepers demand for more. It cannot go on, it will not go one since the era of cheap oil is over, so do with have to dither for thirty years or are we going to retool our financial system to suit the demands of the coming scarcity. Food price spikes is scarcity. Energy price spikes is scarcity. Unaffordable extreme Weather is scarcity of resilience. Rubbish is scarcity of imagination. Sustainability a scarcity of versatility. NZ is old, tired, all bones and little muscle (lots of bookkeeper muscle).
  
  NZ has no resilience when we rely on so few industries, and so few products in those industries (bulk commodities). National are the party of the bookkeepers, when Key wins relection which he will because the media will echo Key’s lies (for fairness – sic) even as Key statements are obvious flaws in reason and fact. The under current will be don’t be a loser, vote for the winner – Key. The same old plea to the weak who spend their whole lives being two second experts. A fair society walks in the shoes of its poorest, oh and frak off jesusfoids, NZ is old unfair and a joke.
  Please evolve NZ.
Kevin Welsh 4

28 January 2011 at 8:30 am

Its the old Strategic Deficit raising its ugly head once again.
- Jim Nald 4.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 3:13 pm
  
  John Key & mates:
  Manufacturing debt
  Manufacturing deception
  Manufacturing foreign dependence
  
  Say it simply, manufacturing bullshit
mickysavage 5

28 January 2011 at 8:43 am

Very good analysis.

So (looking for the optimal sound bite) if we sell $10b worth of electricity companies we lose at least $10b worth of of future income and all that we are doing is financing the tax cuts John Key gave to the richest 1% of taxpayers.

Disgusting.
- Pete 5.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 9:05 am
  
  Why not look at another income group?
  
  Someone on $45k earns $865 per week gross – PAYE/EP on that is $150
  
  If they have two children (quite a common family):
  Family tax credit, $115.00
  In-work tax credit, $60.00
  Total WFF credit $175.00
  So effectively they don’t pay any tax.
  
  On top of that they may get up to $100 per week housing allowance.
  They may also get childcare subsidies.
  If they are on Kiwisaver they get another $17.31 per week from the government.
  Plus doctor subsidies.
  And all the other things provided by people who do pay tax.
  
  They get back more than they pay in tax. They may not pay tax for 15 years. Is that fair?
  
  How much is paid to nil tax payers? ‘The rich” who actually pay a large proportion of the tax.
  - Marty G 5.1.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 9:11 am
    
    Pete also fails to address the point, which one can only take as conceding it
    
    Pete: if you took the tax levels for the wealthiest 1% of Kiwis back to where they were just two years ago – when, remember, they were already super-rich – then it would raise more money than asset sales, and we wouldn’t be giving up all those dividends.
    
    [lprent: pwned arguments aren’t allowed – even for you. ]
    - Pete 5.1.1.1
      
      28 January 2011 at 9:16 am
      
      You’re avoiding my point (by your definition that means you’re conceding it?) – is it “fair” that a significant number of people don’t pay any tax at all, guaranteed for a decade or two? That taxpayers have to keep paying them?
      
      It’s only fair that if you want to look at fair tax levels you look across the board and don’t select a narrow band for your convenience?
      - mickysavage 5.1.1.1.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:27 am
        
        Pete
        
        I would much prefer that my taxes went to lower to middle income working families so their kids can be raised properly than to go to the uber wealthy.
        
        Answer your question?
        
        Now about Marty’s post, do you want to address his point?
        
        Pete 5.1.1.1.1.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:36 am
        
        No, it doesn’t answer my question. I asked if it is fair to everyone, not just how you feel about it.
        
        I think those with families deserve some tax leniency. But paying nothing, next to nothing, or actually getting back more than they pay is absurd, and it grots a lot of people off big time.
        
        Fairness is not someone choosing who gets to pay nothing and who has to cover that. Fairness is about everyone doing their bit, at least paying part of their way.
        
        ZeeBop …
        
        29 January 2011 at 4:23 am
        
        People when they buy stuff add value, that’s why marketing companies seek out buying preferences!
        So for fairness sake will you stop ignoring the fact that removing support, reducing redistribution of wealth will make us poorer as a society. Rob peter to pay paul. Nobody want a less wealthy society.
        If we did away with progressive taxes, the lower and middle classes would take you fairness argument and demand they should not support services that the wealthy use routinely every month that they the majority may use once a year (if that)! If a wealthy person gets a subsidy from the tax payer – no GST – on flights to Sydney because they are ‘working’ to enlarge their personal financial portfolio, then why shouldn’t the average kiwi also get some income support???? Why would taxpayers want to support the wealthy to make more wealth for themselves, but the majority not to support themselves to get more wealthy! You see your fairness argument is a crock of sh*t, you not being fair.
      - Marty G 5.1.1.1.2
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:31 am
        
        Yes. It is fair.the point of the tax and redistribution system is to make the distribution of wealth fairer than naked capitalism would – thereby helping to preserve capitalism, which would otherwise be politically unsustainable.
        If you reduce tax on the rich it can be paid for by increasing tax on those less able to afford it, by cutting the social wage, borrowing, or selling public assets, which just lessens future government revenue.
        Such has been the scale of national’s enrichment of the rich it is doing all four. But that was always the plan.
        
        Pete 5.1.1.1.2.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:39 am
        
        “Fairer” is not having some elite choosing who gets everything for nothing, and who has to subsidise that.
        
        Especially when “those who might vote for the elite choosers” are those who are chosen not to pay anything.
        
        jimmy …
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:57 am
        
        I think you will find there aint many libertarians here mate, ‘fair’ on paper doesnt mean squat in the real world.
        
        Blighty …
        
        28 January 2011 at 11:15 am
        
        So, Pete is anti-democracy?
        
        Bazar …
        
        28 January 2011 at 5:52 pm
        
        Hell i’m anti-democracy, its the worst system out there, except for everything else that has been tried.
        
        And he has a fair point. Its NOT FAIR. Everytime i read this blog, its always tax the rich-picks, as they make the most. Its onyl fair they pay a disproportionate amount of tax….
        
        “The rich make the most money, therefore they should pay the most tax”.
        They already pay the most tax, but that doesn’t stop that arguement.
        
        Everytime i heard that arguement i have a hard time believing anything said isn’t just a form of low income greed. A more rational debate would be if they pay enough. But greed being what it is, it’ll always be easier to say the rich should pay more when you aren’t rich, more so when you can do it with other like-minded people.
        
        Anyway moving on.
        I actually appreate petes discuession here its been insiteful. But its worth pointing uot that higher tax rates might allow for a fairer tax system.
        
        If the rich were taxed more over, but the overall tax rate lowered for lower income famlies, then welfare could be removed for those low income famlies.
        
        Then we get a more transparent tax system.
        Of course thats just theorycrafting, the reality is labour will fight tooth and nail over welfare crutches, and even if such a system was introduced, it’d only be a matter of time before labour started handing out more welfare benifits.
        
        I’ve gone off topic far more then i thought, but i’ll actually post this.
        
        Oh, talking abuot transparent tax system i liked the tax change, lowering the tax rate for the rich to be in line with trust funds makes avoiding tax harder. Removing the tax expense that was depreceation on buildings is a huge tax bonus.
        I see it being about even. But i haven’t the figgures to back that up.
        
        I wonder why i never hear about the depreciation issue whenever the tax cuts are mentioned….
        
        [edit: Too tired to fix my grammer/spelling. Take it as it]
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        28 January 2011 at 6:18 pm
        
        Hell i’m anti-democracy, its the worst system out there, except for everything else that has been tried.
        
        But we don’t have a democracy. We have a plutocracy.
        
        Roughly 5,000-10,000 people decide on the economic direction (and therefore the societal conditions) of the entire country at the moment. The other 4,300,000 NZ’ers living here have frak all say in it.
        
        The richest 20 NZ’ers personally control assets worth ~$30B. That exceeds the net worth of the bottom 50-60% of NZ’ers put together.
        
        Peter Jackson, a half billionaire, can get a law changed on the spot, to suit his companies better. I can’t. And neither can you.
        
        This ain’t no democracy, this is a plutocracy. (Or on the way to becoming one).
        
        Oh, talking abuot transparent tax system i liked the tax change, lowering the tax rate for the rich to be in line with trust funds makes avoiding tax harder.
        
        Yeah? Well increasing the trust tax rate to be in line with the income tax rate for the rich would also have made avoiding tax harder.
      - aj 5.1.1.1.3
        
        28 January 2011 at 11:24 am
        
        Pete @ 9:16
        
        They are paying tax. They pay GST, Fuel Tax, ACC levies etc
      - Graham 5.1.1.1.4
        
        28 January 2011 at 12:49 pm
        
        No it’s not fair for nobody to pay tax,
        but it is more fair than to have a significant number of people who are being under-paid for their hard work. We have the resources in New Zealand for everyone to have, at the very least, a simple, but comfortable, fulfilling and healthy lifestyle. It is a fact that many hard workers simply can’t afford this because a small group are taking many times more than their fair share. It is great that some people wish to work their way up the financial ladder but this needs to be regulated so that many others don’t miss out on their basic human rights.
  - Draco T Bastard 5.1.2
    
    28 January 2011 at 9:51 am
    
    Pete, you do realise that all those subsidies for the rich wouldn’t be necessary if people were actually paid a high enough income don’t you?
    - Pete 5.1.2.1
      
      28 January 2011 at 9:58 am
      
      You must mean subsidies by the rich?
      
      It’s fair to quibble about how much the rich should subsidise others. But that is only a small part of the total tax equation. I think it’s also fair to quibble about those that benefit, and how much they should benefit.
      - orange whip? 5.1.2.1.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 10:05 am
        
        You make it sound as if people have some sort of natural right to hoard the world’s resources for their own benefit at the expense of everybody else, and as if the rest of us are supposed to sit meekly and allow it without compensation.
        
        Where did you develop this perverse world view, Pete?
        
        Pete 5.1.2.1.1.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 10:12 am
        
        That’s a strange assumption ow, and wrong.
        
        I don’t think “the rest of us” should sit meekly accepting a free ride. I think that the starting point should be for everyone to do their bit and pay their own way, but allow for some assistance for people in real need.
        
        orange whip? …
        
        28 January 2011 at 10:35 am
        
        Disingenuous Pete, and transparent.
        
        It is the rich who are getting a free ride on the backs of the rest of us.
        
        Pete …
        
        28 January 2011 at 10:39 am
        
        That’s a “perverse worldview” – the people who pay tax are getting a free ride of those who don’t pay tax?
        
        Draco T Bastard …
        
        28 January 2011 at 11:25 am
        
        No, the people in the top 1% income get a free-ride on the bottom 90% by:
        1.) Structuring their income so as to not pay tax
        and
        2.) not paying enough in wages to cover costs.
        
        orange whip? …
        
        28 January 2011 at 11:37 am
        
        The people who are hoarding all the resources are getting a free ride on the people who do all the work.
        
        Those paying the most tax are doing so because they have most of the money, most of the resources, and most of the power to influence important decisions about how our society functions.
        
        You’re allowed, in this society, to become rich. To take more than your share. To take more than you need. To take from the rest of us.
        
        But you pay a bit of it back to the rest of us in taxes, and not much considering the grossly disproportionate amount of money, land, resources and power controlled by a few percent of the population.
        
        Most of society are living on a tiny amount of money with very little power and not much hope that things will improve. Meanwhile you, Pete, are voicing the concerns of the <5% of society who own almost everything. Why is that?
        
        Pete …
        
        28 January 2011 at 12:50 pm
        
        I don’t think I’m just voicing the concerns of “the <5% of society who own almost everything". I'm not one of them.
        
        There wil always be a few people who get rich, and quite a few more that will be very poor. That always happens, even in so-called communist countries.
        
        The poor should be helped to an extent. The moderately well off have opportunities for getting better off, but even if they don't manage it or don't want to, they should still be prepared to earn their own way through life and not expect and try to force richer people to hand over what they have.
        
        Phil Goff and David Cunliffe must feel that they deserve their salaries, or else they would redistribute most of what they earn to poorer people. Or do they just want to redistribute other people's money?
        
        orange whip? …
        
        28 January 2011 at 6:41 pm
        
        I never said you were one of the richest in our society, Pete. I said you’re voicing their concerns. As you seem to have trouble with what this means I’ll spell it out for you:
        
        There are many, many people in our society who work hard all week and are not paid enough even to rent a house and feed a family.
        
        The reason they aren’t paid enough to live is that the people they work for are taking many, many times their share.
        
        It really is that simple, Pete. There’s no shame in being on the side of the ruling class but you should have the dignity to admit it to yourself. Your duplicity in this regard is embarrassing.
        
        Pete …
        
        28 January 2011 at 7:09 pm
        
        It really isn’t that simple. Maybe one day you will have experienced enough of the world to see that.
        
        I voice my concerns and opinions. I know employers who work bloody hard for bugger all. Some make more than is fair, but within our system they can do that, and it would be less fair to arbitrarily take it off them because someone else deems it too much.
        
        The starting position for any adult should be to earn at least enough to cover their expenses, not to expect that a “decent wage” is automatically owed to them.
        
        Many poor people are not helped as much as they should be – partly because other “poor” people abuse and overuse the assistance of others.
        
        Pascal's bookie …
        
        28 January 2011 at 7:28 pm
        
        “Some make more than is fair, but within our system they can do that, and it would be less fair to arbitrarily take it off them because someone else deems it too much.”
        
        If some make more than is ‘fair’, and the system allows this, how can it not be ‘fair’ to make adjustments to the system?
        
        Many poor people are not helped as much as they should be – partly because other “poor” people abuse and overuse the assistance of others.
        
        Does the system allow this abuse? I don’t think you are being consistent here.
        
        But in any case, if people should be helped, then why shouldn’t they be helped again? Is it their fault that others abuse the assistance of others? How is it relevant? Or if it is relevant, then surely the ‘abuses’ by the wealthy of the system are relevant in the same way.
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        28 January 2011 at 7:44 pm
        
        I know employers who work bloody hard for bugger all.
        
        And that is because we are in a low wage economy and people with low wages have no discretionary income to spend money in shops or buy other services.
        
        That’s a “perverse worldview” – the people who pay tax are getting a free ride of those who don’t pay tax?
        
        And why do they have more tax to pay Pete?
        
        Could it be because they are the ones making shitloads of money?
        
        The only perverse world view here is yours: protecting the interests of the top 5% of income and wealth earners who surely do not need your help.
        
        Phil Goff and David Cunliffe must feel that they deserve their salaries, or else they would redistribute most of what they earn to poorer people. Or do they just want to redistribute other people’s money?
        
        Don’t be a dick.
        
        A higher earner income tax threshold and a CGT will affect their salaries and their investment properties like everyone else.
        
        Maybe one day you will have experienced enough of the world to see that.
        
        You condescending loser. Who are you? Papa Smurf?
        
        Stop championing for those on over $90K p.a. and think of the 50% of NZ’ers who earn less than $27500 p.a.
        
        orange whip? …
        
        28 January 2011 at 8:41 pm
        
        The starting position for any adult should be to earn at least enough to cover their expenses, not to expect that a “decent wage” is automatically owed to them.
        
        Finally you get to the point. A person deserves to be paid at least as much as it costs to live in the society in which they work to earn that pay. Anything less is servitude at best.
        
        The fact that they aren’t is the elephant you’re so careful to avert your eyes from.
      - Draco T Bastard 5.1.2.1.2
        
        28 January 2011 at 10:12 am
        
        No, I most definitely meant subsidies for the rich. GST went up which, due to it being a regressive tax, mostly falls upon the poor.
Gina 6

28 January 2011 at 8:57 am

Could it be the tax cuts were intended to put NZ in this position in the first place. Could it be that the Nats allways intended to use an increasing deficit to push state assett sales and welfare reform.
Could it be that Key’s Banker mates in “Standard and Poors” will threaten NZ’s credit rating to force the sale of NZ assetts.

I suspected this was what they were up to before the last election with their tax cuts. They actually allways wanted cuts for the wealthy but to get elected they had to pretend those cuts were for everyone.

I’m sure many of you suspected this but are too pollite to say it. Its just so corrupt that a party would engineer a deficit or a crisis to bring in reform.

I have feared since before the last election that the Nats would rigg the 2011 election because they know NZ will never accept what they really want to do. I still think that is a possibility. And we know if they do rig it the media will not report it.
Under the guise of saving money they have combined what used ot be 3 departments that used to administer elections into 1 department. much easier for Natinal to corrupt one department. With the combinig and so called reform it’ll be much easier to make sure their people are in.

Be on your guard NZ.
- mickysavage 6.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 9:00 am
  
  As Kevin Welsh said strategic deficit
  
  Be afraid NZ, be very afraid …
  - arants 6.1.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 9:15 am
    
    Be even more afraid as Labour assumes the patsy role in this scam.
    
    To borrow from Anrig’s ‘strategic deficit redux’, apparently Labour still haven’t learned even in the midst of an economic crisis that prioritizing deficit reduction is a game for suckers. Somewhere Ruth Richardson is having yet another laugh.
- Marty G 6.2
  
  28 January 2011 at 9:08 am
  
  “Could it be the tax cuts were intended to put NZ in this position in the first place”
  
  definitely. Eddie hit on it last year:
  
  “Let’s face it. A government doesn’t accidentally spend $15 billion more than its revenue while cutting billions in taxes. The unsustainably high deficit is intentional policy, not happenstance.
  
  In good times and bad, National’s answer is always to cut taxes:
  
  Economic good times and record surpluses? ‘Hardworking Kiwis are being overtaxed by that greedy Michael Cullen’
  
  Recession and record deficits? ‘We need tax cuts to boost the economy’
  
  It doesn’t seem to make sense that your answer to two diametrically opposite situations would be the same. Unless, of course, your objectives aren’t those stated.”
  http://thestandard.org.nz/starve-the-beast/
Colonial Viper 7

28 January 2011 at 8:59 am

Marty, your framing on the front page was succinct, to the point, and punched hard. Perfect, dude.

Damn, LAB could use more of this approach, much more.
big bruv 8

28 January 2011 at 9:07 am

Sigh…..The Standard, a truth free zone.

[lprent: big bruv – a fact free zone. *sigh* But I suppose even the mindless should have their say if it is within the behavior guidelines.. ]
- mickysavage 8.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 9:09 am
  
  Big bruv is up early today and has set out on his morning troll.
  - big bruv 8.1.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 9:25 am
    
    Morning Micky
    
    This is not early, I have already done a days work.
    
    An interesting concept work, you socialists should try it for a living.
- Marty G 8.2
  
  28 January 2011 at 9:09 am
  
  so, bug bruv has shown he has no rebuttal. Thanks for conceding the argument, BB.
  
  I mean, come on dude, with a comment like that you might as well have written: ‘you’re right but I can’t bear to admit it’
  - big bruv 8.2.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 9:21 am
    
    Marty G
    
    Labour (and its sycophants) have got nothing right since 1984 apart from the seabed and foreshore legislation.
    
    See, that is the difference between me and you guys, you blindly support Labour irrespective of the lies, irrespective of the corruption and irrespective of the appalling legislation they have passed or want to pass.
    
    Partially selling off SOE’s is a great idea, it would not kill you guys to admit it.
    - mickysavage 8.2.1.1
      
      28 January 2011 at 9:24 am
      
      And you Big Bruv blindly oppose Labour irrespective of National’s lies that you have fallen for and irrespective of the damage that has occurred to this country over the past two years.
      
      Admit it BB things were way better a few years ago.
      
      BTW paid your debt yet?
      - big bruv 8.2.1.1.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:32 am
        
        Micky
        
        “And you Big Bruv blindly oppose Labour”
        
        Given that you think 9.30am is early I will let that slide, I take it you missed the bit where I said that I supported Labour’s seabed and foreshore legislation.
        
        As for NZ being better now than it was two years ago, I do agree, while we have a gutless government who refuses to do anything about the parasites on benefits it is at least a government free of rampant corruption.
        
        Frank Macskasy 8.2.1.1.1.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:46 am
        
        Big Bruv, let me see if I can connect the dots…
        
        During a recession and a blow-out in government spending, the government gives a billion-dollars tax cut to the highest income earners in this country.
        
        To fund this, Key’s government borrows $300 million-plus each week to make up the balance. Essentially funding tax-cuts through borrowing.
        
        To pay for the interest on the borrowings that funded tax-cuts for the high-income earners, John Key is now stating that his government will partially-privatise our state assets.
        
        Does that about sum it up?
        
        big bruv …
        
        28 January 2011 at 10:00 am
        
        Frank
        
        So far you are failing miserably to connect the dots, let me help you.
        
        The tax cuts were long overdue, they offered relief to the vast majority of Kiwis, you also continue to overlook that the vast majority of Kiwis pay 17c in the dollar.
        
        The real issue you have is the left wing hatred of those who you consider to be “rich pricks”, it is a uniquely Kiwi disease, you would rather see the “rich” hammered than see everybody earn more.
        
        I happen to agree with you that it is madness to borrow $300 million a week, these borrowings are needed because Key refuses to do away with the 2005 criminal election bribes offered by Clark and Cullen (WFF and Interest free student loans).
        
        We would be far better off if Key did away with those and kept the tax cuts.
        
        Tell me Frank, why do you persist with the blatant lie that the tax cuts were only for the rich?
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        28 January 2011 at 10:53 am
        
        The tax cuts were long overdue,
        
        Bull shit. Cullen was saving for a rainy day – which poured down with the GFC – while Bill and John only cared about being spendthrift with our finances for their rich mates.
        
        Taxes are to be spent on all the people of the country, not just the wealthiest 1%. Who I am pretty sure laugh at serfs like you leaping to their defence.
        
        big bruv …
        
        28 January 2011 at 11:10 am
        
        That is bollocks Viper.
        
        Cullen was/is an evil little man who refused to give tax cuts on idealogical grounds, there was no other reason.
        Cullen is also an economic illiterate, why on earth would you pay 1.2 Billion for a broken train set or make thousands of comfortable middle class Kiwis welfare beneficiaries, Cullen and Clark squandered the best economic conditions in living memory.
        
        Of course you will also refuse to admit that those economic conditions came about due to the reforms of Richardson and Douglas.
        
        About the only thing you did get right was the statement that tax’s are spent on everybody, what you fail to appreciate is that the wealthy already pay far more than their share of tax, in other words they have more money stolen from them than is fair.
        
        orange whip? …
        
        28 January 2011 at 11:42 am
        
        And they should pay far, far more seeing as how they own almost everything.
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        28 January 2011 at 1:08 pm
        
        Cullen was/is an evil little man who refused to give tax cuts on idealogical grounds, there was no other reason.
        
        Oh apart from saving for a rainy day, and of course John Key’s banking mates made sure it rained real hard.
        
        arants …
        
        28 January 2011 at 1:16 pm
        
        So ideology is evil and not a reason for doing things…? An ideology of preserving public assets for the public good seems a hell of a lot better than relying on expediency, cynicism and corruption for rationale.
        
        Sanctuary …
        
        28 January 2011 at 11:01 am
        
        You missed one thing: We have a finance minister who genuinely believes that if he just wishes hard enough, magic will come true.
        
        Draco T Bastard 8.2.1.1.1.2
        
        28 January 2011 at 10:08 am
        
        while we have a gutless government who refuses to do anything about the parasites on benefits it is at least a government free of rampant corruption.
        
        There aren’t any parasites on benefits but there’s plenty that vote NACT and have multi-million dollar incomes for doing nothing whatsoever.
        
        This government is the most corrupt I’ve ever seen. The Blinglish housing rort, Worth using his ministerial position to promote his business and whatever else he did to get fired, Wong promoting her business with taxpayer funds, John Key lying about his shares, the firing of ECan because the farmers wanted the water and lots more I can’t remember ATM.
        
        Denying reality won’t make it go away.
        
        big bruv …
        
        28 January 2011 at 10:38 am
        
        “This government is the most corrupt I’ve ever seen”
        
        Amazing!…Draco admits to spending nine years with his eyes closed.
        
        Draco T Bastard …
        
        28 January 2011 at 10:41 am
        
        Ah, no, fact is that the previous government had little to no corruption in it. This one, well, it appears that every single minister is corrupt.
        
        big bruv …
        
        28 January 2011 at 11:12 am
        
        Draco
        
        Just because you keep telling lies about the Clark government does not make it true.
        
        Plenty of commentators have gone on record as saying that the Clark government was the most corrupt in this nations history.
        
        That is a statement of fact.
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        28 January 2011 at 11:19 am
        
        That is a statement of fact.
        
        No, saying that aliens from deep space have been watching human kind for thousands of years is a statement of fact.
        
        In comparison, yours is just fan fiction.
        
        Yes I know peeps, DNFTT…
        
        mickysavage …
        
        28 January 2011 at 12:12 pm
        
        A typical post on the Standard goes like this:
        
        “[Post content with detailed analysis backed by statistics, implications for New Zealand and suggested proposals for change]
        
        Big Bruv
        
        The Klark government was the most corrupt in the history of the world
        
        Exasperated leftie1
        
        No it was not because of
        
        a.
        b.
        c.
        d.
        
        And how about Key’s behaviour in doing
        
        e.
        f.
        g.
        h.
        
        Big Bruv
        
        It was the most corrupt
        
        Exasperated leftie2
        
        No it was not. Address the post bb
        
        What about StandardAuthor1’s points
        
        i.
        j.
        k.
        l.
        
        Big Bruv
        
        It was the most corrupt
        
        Exasperated leftie3
        
        No it wasn’t.
        
        Big Bruv
        
        Yes it was.”
        
        I think we should avoid commenting on BB’s comments at least until he pays his debt to Blip.
        
        big bruv …
        
        28 January 2011 at 12:33 pm
        
        Micky is feeling trapped, he knows that he cannot defend the corrupt Clark government so he is trying to shut down debate on the issue.
        
        Come on Micky, you know I am right about her rotten government, cleanse yourself mate, wash away the dirt that surrounded her nine disastrous years.
        
        mickysavage …
        
        28 January 2011 at 12:55 pm
        
        Stop digging BB, stop digging …
        
        jbanks …
        
        28 January 2011 at 11:32 am
        
        The Man himself, John Key, sums up the incompetency of the previous Govt. quite nicely.
        
        The Government’s books had been left in a mess, with Treasury projecting no end to budget deficits and government debt spiraling out of control.
        
        Can’t argue with those facts.
        
        orange whip? …
        
        28 January 2011 at 11:45 am
        
        Bill English does. He says Labour left us in good shape.
        
        Just out of interest, are you named after John Banks or Joseph?
        
        Blighty …
        
        28 January 2011 at 12:06 pm
        
        The latest forecasts have the government back in surplus in four years (http://treasury.govt.nz/government/fiscalstrategy/model/fsm-hyefu10.xls) with 28.5% of GDP net debt – one of the lowest in the world and falling to 10% of GDP in a little over a decade
        
        When surpluses resume in four years’ time, dear jbanks, I assume you’ll start demanding tax cuts because you’re being over-taxed.
- big bruv 8.3
  
  28 January 2011 at 9:51 am
  
  Always the truth Iprent, always.
  
  Give it a crack some time, it is fun 🙂
  - lprent 8.3.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 2:06 pm
    
    Looks more like your unsubstantiated opinions to me. But because they are opinions or the vague even if you’re daft enough to consider them to be ‘facts’ they aren’t something I need to concern myself with when moderating.
Pete 9

28 January 2011 at 9:26 am

Selling assets to pay for tax cuts for richest 1%

That’s weird logic – asset sales and borrowing are required to cover those that don’t pay any tax and those who pay little tax and aren’t subsidised enough by those who do pay tax.
- Blighty 9.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 11:14 am
  
  If the tax cuts for the richest 1% didn’t exist, there woudl be no need to raise the $10 billion (not that theres’ actually any good reason anyway).
  
  Simple.
HC 10

28 January 2011 at 10:35 am

Let us feel compassionate for those poor sods representing the 1 % at the top! They are ruled by thoughts and feelings of greed, materialism, selfishness and the ones of them that work will do so 60 and more hours a week, not knowing what a balanced, private life is. We selfish poor and beneficiaries should feel good by sharing with them and give them a little compensation for all those personality ills they suffer from. I do not mind tightening the belt more down to the bones under my skin. Jonkey and Blinglish are such great thinkers of economic reason, they will go into the history books for selling the last bits of table silver that NZ’ers have. In Hades they will keep themselves warm around the fire together with Roger Dodger Douglas, Ruth the Euthanasian, Jenny Shapely and all the leaders of the Business Roundtable. Do not forget Fay and Richwhite, Brierley and others that so compassionately lightened us off the burdon of too much money to carry as a nation. They will all end up in the nice, warm and “cosy” Netherworld while we are freezing in the cold, because we will be without homes, clothes and food – due to having to pay the debts left behind. Amen!
- Colonial Viper 10.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 10:57 am
  
  Yeah with you on your sentiments.
  
  Its like the frakkin muscle for the gangs or the yakuza. They get treated like dirt and most of them get extincted on the way while still grovelling on their knees.
  
  But they think if they can last long enough and do enough wet work for the bosses, that they too will one day get a shot to sit at the top table.
PC Brigadier 11

28 January 2011 at 10:48 am

Good write up. AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO IS GETTING REALLY, REALLY ANGRY?
- Colonial Viper 11.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 10:50 am
  
  Nah dude, its definitely time to man the barricades.
  - patriot_nz 11.1.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 11:48 am
    
    I am absolutely furious. This is f***ing treason. John Key and every other politician of the past three decades who sold off New Zealand should get the Mussolini treatment. We need action. Once our hydro electricity is sold off we are finished- this plus the farmland sales makes these the final days for New Zealand.
    
    A note to Labour- I know we are only months out from an election, but get rid of Goff NOW. You cannot win with him there. As well as being pathetic and spineless, Goff is forever associated with the Labour government who started the sell off. You don’t have the option of cynically waiting for the next electoral cycle to do a painless transfer of power- it will be too late-we are out of time and Key’s government cannot be returned to power. Roll Goff now- put Cunliffe in. If you genuinely care that is, though to be honest you seem to me just to be National in red clothing.
    
    I am ready to march.
    - jbanks 11.1.1.1
      
      28 January 2011 at 1:23 pm
      
      Goff will not leave . Labour will lose. National will have some real fun next term.
      
      Bendover redrover.
      
      [lprent: I have no idea what the hell you mean, but from the context it looks like pointless gratuitous abuse and I see that you’ve done it on the previous comment as well. To discourage this rather disgusting habit from becoming part of your normal behavior here go away for a week to consider why I don’t want it here.. ]
      - mickysavage 11.1.1.1.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 1:35 pm
        
        By redrover I take it you mean ordinary kiwis?
  - Kevin Welsh 11.1.2
    
    28 January 2011 at 12:00 pm
    
    Prepare the lamposts, I say.
  - mickysavage 11.1.3
    
    28 January 2011 at 1:18 pm
    
    its definitely time to man the barricades
    
    Absolutely CV, see you there
Treetop 12

28 January 2011 at 11:53 am

15 billion forecast in the deficit will be the the highest deficit on record by any government.

Winston reminded me yesterday how anything over 25 % sold in shares could go belly up. Money mover Key is gambling with retaining 51 %. I have a suggestion retain 100 % of state owned assests because then they will belong to EVERYONE equally.
- Lanthanide 12.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 12:17 pm
  
  Winston was talking about BNZ being controlled by a 30% shareholder. That’s only because the remaining 70% of the shares were diluted amongst many investors.
  
  In Key’s proposal, 51% will be owned by the crown, so this technically can’t happen. Of course the crown could choose to side with the other 49% of the shareholders, against the taxpayers of NZ. While they can make those same sorts of decisions right now, there would be considerably more pressure for them to bow to the minorities demands – and they probably won’t even appear as ‘demands’, but as repeated publications in the media saying the government should do x or y, or that z is bad (even if it’s completely unreleted to power companies), so as to build public support for whatever it is they’re proposing, even if it’s against the publics best interest. See climate change + oil companies, and US republicans for examples.
  - Treetop 12.1.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 12:53 pm
    
    Didn’t Auckland airport get carved up? What was the margin? Fine to correct me as I am weak on financial matters other than my own.
tsmithfield 13

28 January 2011 at 12:25 pm

Marty “But I got wondering, how does that one-off $10 billion compare to the cost of the tax cuts that National has given the wealthiest 1% of Kiwis, which they will continue to get year after year? Answer: not well.”

Another fallacious argument from you Marty.

Firstly, any reduction in tax rates for the wealthy is largely offset by the increase in GST. (Yeah, I know that the poor pay a greater percentage of their income in GST, but not more in nominal terms than the rich). This is because the wealthy tend to have spend a helluva a lot more to fund their lifestyles. Thus, in nominal terms they pay a lot more in GST.

Secondly, the wealthy are more likely to have been hit by the removal of tax write-offs on property investment.

Before you can make any claim that the wealthy are better off in overall tax terms, you need to demonstrate that their gain on reduced tax-rates hasn’t been offset by increases in other areas, as I have pointed out above.

Thirdly, your claim that the income from sale of shares in SOE’s is for tax cuts for the rich is entirely arbitrary. It is equally valid to say the income generated is to pay for other assets.

In short, there is not a shred of validity in your argument.
- Blighty 13.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 12:41 pm
  
  “Firstly, any reduction in tax rates for the wealthy is largely offset by the increase in GST”
  
  Not at the top end. 2.5% increase in GST is like a 2% income tax increase. Above $70,000 you’re paying 6% less tax than when National came to power. And at the top end, you are likely to be saving a large portion of your income and so not paying GST on it. Remember, the 2009 and 2010 tax cuts weren’t fiscally neutral – the 2009 ones cost $1 billion a year with no offsettin tax rise and the 2010 ones raise $400 million less this year than they cost
  
  “the wealthy are more likely to have been hit by the removal of tax write-offs on property investment”
  
  very few of the very wealthy are in property investment. It’ a get-rich quick scheme for the aging middle class, not people with real money.
  
  “your claim that the income from sale of shares in SOE’s is for tax cuts for the rich is entirely arbitrary. It is equally valid to say the income generated is to pay for other assets.”
  
  and, yet, if those tax cuts for just 1% of the population hadn’t happened, the government would be in the same financial position as selling the assets (and that’s not even counting the lost dividends). You can’t deny there’s a trade-off at work here. Without those tax cuts, the asset sales wouldn’t be needed (indeed, they’re not needed anyway and won’t generate any net income anyway).
- orange whip? 13.2
  
  28 January 2011 at 1:24 pm
  
  This is because the wealthy tend to have spend a helluva a lot more to fund their lifestyles. Thus, in nominal terms they pay a lot more in GST.
  
  No, the poor HAVE to spend all of their income week to week just to survive.
  
  Over and above this, the rich can CHOOSE to spend as much or as little of their income – and therefore pay as much or as little GST – as they like.
  
  Big difference and not one that I’m certain you have the capacity to appreciate.
Graham 14

28 January 2011 at 12:34 pm

Tax the wealthiest 1% at 66%. Think of it as a “greed tax”. Most kiwis would be happy about this I’m sure. There will be a few tears “But it’s my right to exploit people and the environment to fulfill my cash and power addiction”! But the world can no longer sustain that kind of carry on.
- Colonial Viper 14.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 1:40 pm
  
  Not bad, but we have to tax land and assets – a lot of the wealthiest people in NZ have very little taxable income, but lots and lots of assets.
- Rosy 14.2
  
  28 January 2011 at 9:01 pm
  
  Is far as I can tell the richest one percent don’t pay any tax at all. If they do they either have ethics or bad accountants. So this whole argument is theoretical only. They probably don’t pay a helluva lot of GST either (buying overseas is so much more envy-enducing among the rich – and buying NZ-made so crass, unless it’s from the duty-free stores). It’s the ones that aspire to be in the top one percent that may pay the most tax. I can’t work out why they are getting so angry about the top tax rate seeing as if they get there they won’t pay it.
Krispy 15

28 January 2011 at 12:38 pm

The sale of a minority stake in SOE’s is a brilliant idea. The money raised from the sales will not be going to tax cuts as stated in the article, but instead will be used to invest in other assets and diversify our national interest in many assets. As long as the government maintains a 51% stake there is nothing to worry about. Private companies run much more efficiently than state owned companies do so it will be hugely beneficial.
- Kevin Welsh 15.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 12:47 pm
  
  Yeah, I’ve been really impressed how efficiently Telcom and TranzRail have been and were run under private ownership. All that investment Telecom did with fibre is saving us a bundle now.
- Lazy Susan 15.2
  
  28 January 2011 at 1:21 pm
  
  Hang on a minute – now the money raised from the sales is going into other assets? But didn’t Key say it was to pay down debt. Oh that’s right he said it was to do both – reduce debt and increase the net public asset base. Gee I wish I could do that at home!
- Draco T Bastard 15.3
  
  28 January 2011 at 2:01 pm
  
  More pure ideology from a RWNJ.
  
  Go check out history and you’ll find that private institutions run worse than government departments. AirNZ crashed when privately owned but came back to make a profit once it was government owned. Prior to Telecoms sale all of it’s profit (yes, it was making a profit throughout the 1980s) went into the network which is why you now have digital exchanges. After the sale that dropped to ~15% and the network degraded to the point that now we, as taxpayers, are having to put in another couple of billion dollars to get the network that we’ve already paid for.
  
  Reality – it has a radical left bias and fully contradicts anything the neo-liberals say.
Penny Bright 16

28 January 2011 at 1:02 pm

26 January 2010

‘Open Letter’/ Official Information Act to Prime Minister John Key:

“To whom exactly has NZ become indebted?”t

Dear Prime Minister,

You were quoted as saying, on 25 January 2011:

“Our high level of foreign debt is New Zealand’s biggest vulnerability.”

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10701948
Can you please uphold the principles of ‘open, transparent and democratically accountable’ government, and provide the following information:

1) On a ‘line-by-line’ accounting basis, provide the detailed information which shows EXACTLY to whom New Zealand has become indebted, since the National /ACT Government came to power in November 2008.

2) In particular, the information which confirms since the National /ACT Government came to power in November 2008, whether or not New Zealand has become indebted to the Bank of America, any subsidiaries of the Bank of America, or any lending institutions of any form, which have any connections to the Bank of America.

Yours sincerely,

Penny Bright
Media Spokesperson
Water Pressure Group
Judicially recognised Public Watchdog on Metrowater, water and Auckland regional governance matters.
“Anti-corruption campaigner”

Attendee: Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2009. Attendee: Transparency International 14th Independent Anti-Corruption Conference 2010

Auckland Mayoral candidate 2010.
Independent candidate Botany by-election 2011.

http://waterpressure.wordpress.com
________________________________________________________________________

http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/MPP/MPs/FinInterests/8/c/3/00CLOOCMPPFinInterests20101-Register-of-Pecuniary-Interests-of-Members.htm

The reason why I have asked about the role of the bank of America is because John Key has listed in the above-mentioned ‘Register of Pecuniary Interests of Members of Parliament’ (pg 36) – an interest (such as shares and bonds) in the Bank of America.

Is John Key personally profiting from NZ’s growing indebtedness?

I’m not saying that he is – because I don’t know if this is the case.
But, I’ve asked him the question.

I think a lot of people will be interested in the reply to this OIA.

Penny Bright
- KJT 16.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 2:22 pm
  
  He has already. When he was in Merril Lynch. Shorting our dollar. The moral equivalent on a larger scale of taking an old Ladies life savings.
  
  Now they are having another go with whats left.
  - Colonial Viper 16.1.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 3:03 pm
    
    Although, there are some benefits to having our artificially strong and artificially highly traded currency fall in value. See the US, Chinese and Icelandic examples.
  - BHAT 16.1.2
    
    28 January 2011 at 5:34 pm
    
    Can you please explain how shorting kiwi, is theft.????
    - Colonial Viper 16.1.2.1
      
      28 January 2011 at 6:15 pm
      
      Easy: forcing a fall in the NZ dollar means that a NZ’ers assets are worth less in terms of equivalent international goods or US dollars.
      
      Really only matters for people wanting to take an overseas holiday or wanting to buy an expensive overseas item – a new Beemer or Merc for instance.
      - mcflock 16.1.2.1.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 6:51 pm
        
        Agreed CV – essentially it’s the equivalent of a middle-man skimming off the top.
        
        Regular speculation is bad enough, essentially skimming money off profits for added value into the market (i.e. newly produced goods and services are sold to exporters who sell to [SKIM POINT] importers who sell wanted goods and services to that other marketplace), but short-sellers exacerbate losses while producing nothing. Like if you mortgage your house and go belly-up (your risk, fair call), but your local dept-collector takes your car as well as your house. And the bank only gets the house.
        
        And, a necessary component of theft, we have no control over whether currency speculators can fuck up our domestic markets. They take their cut (usually risking other people’s money to do so), whether we want our profits or not.
        
        Colonial Viper 16.1.2.1.1.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 6:58 pm
        
        Like if you mortgage your house and go belly-up (your risk, fair call), but your local dept-collector takes your car as well as your house. And the bank only gets the house.
        
        Or in the case of transferable credit default swaps, where its like your neighbour takes out insurance against you not being able to make your regular mortgage payments and losing your house.
        
        Except your neighbour also happens to be your boss’ wife, you get your ass fired by him, and she collects big on the insurance policy when you lose the house.
        
        Money made on the back of real workers getting destroyed.
        
        And John Boy wants to make NZ a global centre of this shite.
        
        (I should say that another consequence of our dollar being forced to fall, is that as a country we will find it harder to pay off our USD denominated foreign debts)
- Descendant Of Smith 16.2
  
  28 January 2011 at 7:19 pm
  
  I came across this once and always though this was interesting as New Zealand specifically gets a mention as a borrower under some obscure war legislation.
  
  9 billion dollars
ianmac 17

28 January 2011 at 1:38 pm

Damn read this just now but not sure where:
“Our Crown debt is, by global standards, still low. Lumping these two types of debts together, as the Prime Minster is doing to attempt to justify this policy, is at best mischievous and at worst dishonest.”
Yes Key said that several times this morning and then he puts us in line with Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Greece. Wonder how we challenge him on this?
- ianmac 17.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 1:46 pm
  
  Found it. Simon Pellet Business Leader: http://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/opinion-selwyn-pellett-argues-john-keys-smile-and-wave-asset-sales-wont-cut-mustard
Fisiani 18

28 January 2011 at 2:01 pm

[deleted]

[lprent: And that is trolling – it is exactly the same comment as you put here and I’d already requested substantiation on. Go away for a month for being stupid enough to copy and paste unsubstantiated assertions. ]
randal 19

28 January 2011 at 2:08 pm

ya should have heard the vultures on nat rad yesterday morning.
(they {vultures} have bald heads so they can eat the guts of carrion)
drooling at the thought of all that free money from their pal the PM.
never mind.
with the rate of regime change accelerating all over the globe the nats wont be round long enough to get in a bit of looting of the state treasury before they get the boot.
bobo 20

28 January 2011 at 4:28 pm

the rich guy and falling money pic 🙂 priceless, in regards to Key selling kiwi assets is like a slippery snake swallowing it’s tail..
burt 21

28 January 2011 at 6:33 pm

It’s such a shame that Labour left the cupboard bare with the economy in recession after 9 years of middle income tax pillage.

Oh well, it’s what NZ Labour parties do… spend like a drunken sailor to try and stay popular while growth stagnates and we slide into recession.

Will Labour be honest this time and promise a few terms of fiscal drag leading to recession if they get reelected or will they promise to “fix” things then revert to normal behaviour once they have the treasury benches and baubles ?
- Colonial Viper 21.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 6:45 pm
  
  It’s such a shame that Labour left the cupboard bare with the economy in recession after 9 years of middle income tax pillage.
  
  Meh. Labour ran 9 years of surpluses and repaid a large amount of foreign debt. In fact, NZ had no net debt by the time Labour left office.
  
  Bill and John – on the way to 3 deficit strikes out.
  - burt 21.1.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 7:22 pm
    
    Is this the same CV who has repeatedly detailed his own tax prescription which is very different from the one that labour used to stagnate the economy ?
  - burt 21.1.2
    
    28 January 2011 at 7:27 pm
    
    Under 9 years of fiscal drag the govt got rich and the people got poor. Guess that is how socialists like it eh.
    - mickysavage 21.1.2.1
      
      28 January 2011 at 8:17 pm
      
      When will you realise Burt that the Government is the people? And the big bad organisations intent on taking your money are the multinationals like Telecom (sort of multinational), McDonalds, IBM, Rio Tinto and a multitude of others.
      
      And when we pay money to the government it is like we are getting a benefit as shareholders, but if we pay money to the others we are seeing jack siht?
      
      Do you see this?
      
      Why do rwnjs think that the state is a foreign entity?
      - Pete 21.1.2.1.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 8:33 pm
        
        Jobs are jack shit? What sort of jobs is Labour thinking of creating? More non-productive?
        
        Colonial Viper 21.1.2.1.1.1
        
        28 January 2011 at 8:48 pm
        
        Hey Pete you noticed that NAT don’t care in the least about crisis levels of youth unemployment?
        
        And what do you mean by ‘more non-productive’?
        
        LAB has got a raft of policies and policy ideas about growing the real productive economy and the tradeables sector.
        
        What do you have? Pimples?
        
        Pete …
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:14 pm
        
        Do you mean Labour plan on trying to encourage employers to create more jobs?
        
        The Nats are trying things with youth employment, new initiatives kick in this year, too soon to tell whether they will work. Labour had different ideas, mixed results. My wife works in that field so I do know a bit about it.
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:21 pm
        
        Yeah I know the plan, get the young people to work on cycleways.
        
        Armchair Critic 21.1.2.1.1.2
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:19 pm
        
        How will privatising these four SOEs create an increased number of productive jobs?
        
        Pete …
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:29 pm
        
        From what I’ve seen that’s not the main aim, but one possibility being suggested is it will make it easier for the SOEs to raise capital for expansion and projects, and that would create jobs.
        
        Armchair Critic …
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:43 pm
        
        Because private businesses can raise capital more cheaply than the government? No?
        The electricity generators try to match generation capacity to demand. The privatisation won’t change demand, so I doubt it will affect expansion and projects, either in scope or timing.
        In short – these sales won’t create any productive jobs.
        
        mickysavage …
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:45 pm
        
        But the SOEs have a really easy way to raise capital. Have a good business case and then persuade the Government to borrow it. After all the Government has relatively low debt (thanks Michael Cullen) and can borrow oodles and oodles of money because it is a sovereign state but if the politicians think that the state should do nothing at all and instead the rules should be changed so that their rich mates can skim the rest of us then I guess the state will not borrow the money.
        
        It is a pity really. Because if the state stayed involved we would retain control of the electricity generation system AND get all of the profits. I am happy to pay more tax so that this happens.
        
        EDIT – I agree with Armchair
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        28 January 2011 at 9:47 pm
        
        Because private businesses can raise capital more cheaply than the government? No?
        
        Yeah Pete is really struggling here with why we should sell off strategic energy assets during peaking oil production.
Uncle Helen 22

28 January 2011 at 6:45 pm

The top 10% of earners bare a disproportionate 78% of the total income tax burden.

That’s 68% more than our “fair share.”

Want as many votes as I have? Pay as much tax as I do.

Next.
- Colonial Viper 22.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 6:47 pm
  
  Uncle Helen making the case for plutocracy! A country ruled by the rich for the rich.
  
  Frak off. Your definition of fair seems to be – a rich person with a new Porsche should pay exactly the same amount of tax as someone in poverty who cannot afford the power bills.
  
  Someone hand me a Tui.
  
  80% of NZ’ers earn less than $60K p.a. We are a poor country, and we pay almost all our people poorly, except for the few sucking down the vintage Bolly at the top end.
  
  Our ‘leaders’ should be doing double time to push the pay rates of ordinary workers up the scale.
  
  In contrast the top 5 % of earners ($90K p.a. and over) need to pay ***more*** in tax, and currently untaxed land and capital needs to be caught by a CGT and an estate tax.
- joe90 22.2
  
  28 January 2011 at 6:53 pm
  
  Want as many votes as I have? Pay as much tax as I do
  
  …and you sling it over your shoulder and burp it….
- orange whip? 22.3
  
  28 January 2011 at 7:00 pm
  
  The top 10% of earners bare a disproportionate 78% of the total income tax burden.
  
  Um, that’d be because the top 10% have all the money, genius.
  
  Better trolls please.
  - Colonial Viper 22.3.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 7:09 pm
    
    How’d all you guys rebuke so succinctly??? I had to write an essay 😯
    - orange whip? 22.3.1.1
      
      28 January 2011 at 8:29 pm
      
      Haha, without your essay we wouldn’t have been able to 😉
      But also, he’s not worth it is he?
- mcflock 22.4
  
  28 January 2011 at 7:47 pm
  
  Hey Uncle, your figures seem to be wrong.
  
  I looked at IRD income distribution tables.
  
  The 2009 sheet seems to say that the top 10.16% of individuals earned 1/3 of all the taxable income and paid 44.5% (not 78%) of the tax. They earned $69,001 and up.
  
  The BOTTOM 10.14% earned 0.242% of all the taxable income and paid 0.119% of the tax. They earned $3,000 or under.
  
  So, source please.
  - Colonial Viper 22.4.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 7:49 pm
    
    Source? Probably out of his nether regions. Thanks for the fact check.
  - arants 22.4.2
    
    28 January 2011 at 8:31 pm
    
    These are TAXABLE income distribution tables. Not wealth and not gross income. The point is that there is no tax on wealth and that many of the most wealthy have no TAXABLE income. Even in terms of the income tables, I would wager that the highest GROSS income earners (eg law & accounting partners) are typically in the BOTTOM 10% of TAXABLE income earners and that many of the most successful self-employed have no TAXABLE income at all. When they do, it can be so low that they get WFF and their children qualify for student allowances.
    - McFlock 22.4.2.1
      
      28 January 2011 at 10:57 pm
      
      yep, that’s true enough as well.
      
      Bit of a conceptual leap for UH, though. Baby steps…
- mickysavage 22.5
  
  28 January 2011 at 8:57 pm
  
  I would like to say a couple of things to Uncle Helen.
  
  Firstly great choice of name. I felt like calling you a misogynist fucktard but I thought better of it and thought I should address your comments instead.
  
  Secondly you bare when you take your clothes off. You bear when you support. Your suggestion is that the wealthy get naked when they writhe in huge piles of money, I am not sure but you might be right.
  
  Thirdly you have got your maths wrong. See above.
  
  Fourthly we have a problem. Over the past couple of decades the wealthy have done really well but society has been going backwards. Society survives better when we share it round.
  
  Fifthly I bet I pay as much tax as you. Unlike you I would prefer to live in a community where I can go into the village and everyone is doing OK. I prefer this to buying the second BMW with a v8 motor. Some things are more important than other things.
  - Colonial Viper 22.5.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 8:59 pm
    
    I felt like calling you a misogynist fucktard but I thought better of it
    
    Why you are such a loving, restrained soul. I wouldn’t have been so kind, personally.
    - mickysavage 22.5.1.1
      
      28 January 2011 at 9:12 pm
      
      I was tempted …
  - tradittytard 22.5.2
    
    28 January 2011 at 9:33 pm
    
    wow I bet you’re a real poster boy for the law society.
- KJT 22.6
  
  29 January 2011 at 9:11 am
  
  I suspect I pay a lot more than you do if you are really one of the top 5% of the wealthiest people. Most of them structure their affairs so as to pay minimal tax as possible. From the tax working groups conclusions it is the bottom 10% of the top 15% who pay the most taxes. The really high earners can and do structure their affairs to pay little tax. Half the wealthiest people in NZ pay little tax. (Tax working group). As they benefit the most from tax payer supplied infrastructure they should be paying for it.
  It is people like Teachers, Small business owners, Doctors and highly skilled workers who pay most of the tax. Not the rich.
Draco T Bastard 23

28 January 2011 at 8:41 pm

Foreigners will buy asset shares – Treasury

Foreign corporates could end up with big stakes in state-owned power companies within a decade of them being partially-sold, according to a Treasury assessment.

Wonder if Jonkey is going to continue to say that “ma & pa” investors will buy them?

EDIT:

It effectively urges the Government to sell out of all its commercial interests, saying there is no compelling reason for it to stay involved.

”We think full private ownership for all companies over the medium term would be likely to result in moderate economic benefits compared with alternative institutional arrangements … We do not find any of the arguments for continued Crown ownership particularly convincing …”

PS, Somebody fire everyone at Treasury who are obviously no longer working in the best interests of the country.
- Colonial Viper 23.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 8:56 pm
  
  Maybe the Crown should divest itself from NZ. That would likely lower taxes a whole lot. Exactly as you do in a computer game, where you sell every building in your home base off and end up with a stack of folding stuff. But nothing else to do anything with.
  
  It effectively urges the Government to sell out of all its commercial interests, saying there is no compelling reason for it to stay involved.
  
  And hey what about that commercial analysis unit that the Government seems to use all the time…what’s it called again? Treasury, was it?
  
  Sell those frakkers off for a start*. They’re worse than worthless to us as a country.
  
  *Except no decent investment bank with a real analysis unit would touch it.
  - Armchair Critic 23.1.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 9:16 pm
    
    And hey what about that commercial analysis unit that the Government seems to use all the time…what’s it called again? Treasury, was it?
    Sell those frakkers off for a start*. They’re worse than worthless to us as a country.
    No, they are not worse than worthless. Sometimes they get it right.
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/4594268/Foreigners-will-buy-asset-shares-Treasury
    - Colonial Viper 23.1.1.1
      
      28 January 2011 at 9:20 pm
      
      Could’ve been a fluke…and do we really need highly paid ‘experts’ to tell us things like this anyhows? I would’ve told you for a lager.
      - KJT 23.1.1.1.1
        
        29 January 2011 at 10:49 am
        
        Time they were sacked. A talking Roger Douglas doll would give the same advice so why employ people at high salaries to do so.
Nick C 24

28 January 2011 at 10:31 pm

Not directly related to the post but on the topic of asset sales: Did anyone else spot Dr Norman’s glaring error in this press release?

http://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/asset-sales-pay-tax-cuts
- Colonial Viper 24.1
  
  28 January 2011 at 10:55 pm
  
  Possibly I’m going blind
  – Consumers already face monopoly power generators – no change there?
  – The assets are only being part privatised so the Govt will still receive some dividend?
  – John Key doesn’t drive a Porsche?
  
  Hmmmm not sure Nick, must be late.
  - Nick C 24.1.1
    
    28 January 2011 at 11:09 pm
    
    “Monopoly power generators”. If it were a monopoly there would only be one!
    - Lanthanide 24.1.1.1
      
      28 January 2011 at 11:50 pm
      
      Oligopoly then. Does it really make a difference? Answer: no.
      
      captcha: wires
  - McFlock 24.1.2
    
    28 January 2011 at 11:11 pm
    
    [attempts to channel RW PoV – eeeuuuw]
    
    I’m not going to number check each stat norman pulled up, but NickC might be referring to the line “Once the assets are privatised, government will no longer receive the dividends from the assets, and so the government’s fiscal position will be worse. ”
    
    You see, CV, what the average tory doesn’t get is that in order to sell something in a completely fungible environment (speculators don’t care what company a stock is in, they just want the share price to change), the buyer usually wants to pay less than the revenue that item will generate. This effect is moderated to a certain extent by the fact that the conventional trader will try to sell to someone who overestimates the true worth of the stock, but in a market with perfect knowledge the government would not sell the SOE stock because long term dividends, each and every time, would outnumber the short term “cash in hand” payoff that will burn a hole in Shonkey’s pocket.
    
    [edit: damn – it was “monopoly power generators”. ]
Deadly_NZ 25

28 January 2011 at 11:17 pm

And when even treasury are saying that the mom n Pop ain’t going to own the shares in about 10 years. But foreigners will . Now Smile and Wave that one away. But in the end they still say sell. Bloody Vultures.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/4594268/Foreigners-will-buy-asset-shares-Treasury
burt 26

29 January 2011 at 2:42 am

Did anyone follow Marty G’s link to IRD ?

If you did you may have noticed in the notes;

6. Income tax for individuals is calculated based on their taxable income. The table shows income tax before any allowances for tax credits such as imputation credits or Working for Families Tax Credits. The low income and tax credit and tax credit on the IR3 and personal tax summary have been applied, but the calculation does not include the donations, housekeeper or redundancy tax credits. For non-filers, income tax is calculated as if they had filed an annual return.

I wonder if Marty G saw it ?
- lprent 26.1
  
  29 January 2011 at 7:40 am
  
  Burt, you know how I’d hate to even suggest that you’re sometimes a bit of an idiot.
  
  But I can’t see the relevance of your carefully highlighted quote to Martys post about the reduced taxes on the wealthy (an asset sakes). After all the wealthy shouldn’t be getting WFF and imputation credits (presumably latgely from the banks) shouldn’t make that much impact. I also wouldn’t expect the wealthy to get much in the way of tax credits on income tax (they tend to get those through boondoggles on company tax regimes instead).
  
  Now you really should make whatever point you are trying to get across clearly. It makes it easier on we mere mortals, enhances the discussion, and we might actually get some value from your contributions (instead of thinking that you’re a bit of an idiot still locked into the last election)
  - burt 26.1.1
    
    29 January 2011 at 12:38 pm
    
    The point is pretty simple lprent, I’m surprised that you don’t get it. Marty G has posted a link to graphs that he uses to illustrate his “i can make up shit” point that the top 1% of tax payers are getting all the benefits using a graph (and data) that takes no account of tax credits, WFF etc.
    
    See the spike in the graph that meets his ideology of lots of tax being paid by lower earners would look very different if such things were accounted for. You do know that there are people on lower incomes paying no tax at all once WFF is taken into account don’t you?
    
    You once commented on the location I was posting from lprent so I think you know I know a bit more about this shit than the picture you like to paint with your “Burt, you know how I’d hate to even suggest that you’re sometimes a bit of an idiot” distraction.
    - Marty G 26.1.1.1
      
      29 January 2011 at 12:44 pm
      
      The IRD stats show the taxable income of people by income band. From that I calculate that the top 1% are getting $586 million a year as a result of the National government’s income tax cuts in 2009 and 2010.
      
      WWF has nothing to do with it because it is not part of that tax package. this is about the cost of cutting taxes for the very wealthiest New Zealanders.
      
      I hope I’ve explained that simply enough for you.
    - Marty G 26.1.1.2
      
      29 January 2011 at 12:46 pm
      
      maybe I should have linked to the excel table for you instead rather than the page with the link on it. I thought it was obvious since I’m only using the numbers to calculate the tax cuts for the top 1%. But never too obvious for burty boy.
      - burt 26.1.1.2.1
        
        29 January 2011 at 1:05 pm
        
        maybe I should have linked to the excel table for you instead rather than the page with the link on it.
        
        No, I found that pretty quickly. Perhaps you should have either read the notes on what the data actually was or if you did read it perhaps you should have not ignored it.
        
        The only thing you have proven is how inefficient churn is when the IRD can’t readily provide actual stats on tax paid by income band rather than just tax assessed before rebates, credits and other social policy handouts.
        
        Marty G 26.1.1.2.1.1
        
        29 January 2011 at 1:11 pm
        
        this post has nothing to do with WFF. the stats only serve to give us the taxable income of the top 1%. if you refuse to engage with the issue, i’ll move your comments to open mike and you can whine about the difference between net and gross tax for low income earners there to your heart’s content.
        
        burt …
        
        29 January 2011 at 1:15 pm
        
        Marty G
        
        Move my comments if you can’t stand the heat. This post is about tax cuts and who they go to… sure I agree with that. But you have only looked at half the picture and it would be a lot easier if you acknowledge that rather than try and hide your failing because of blind ideology by removing my comments. Over to you – stand and debate or use your blog author position to pretend you didn’t make a fundamental blunder trying to spin shit to match your socialist failure world view.
        
        Marty G …
        
        29 January 2011 at 1:28 pm
        
        this post is about the cost of tax cuts for the top 1% vs the money that could be raised from asset sales.
    - burt 26.1.1.3
      
      29 January 2011 at 12:47 pm
      
      Marty G
      
      From that you can calculate what gross tax is “assessed” based on income but you cannot calculate what net tax is “paid” because you are missing all the tax credits, WFF etc. Fail.
      - Marty G 26.1.1.3.1
        
        29 January 2011 at 12:55 pm
        
        1) People on the top 1% of incomes don’t get WFF or other income tax credits. It’s mathematically impossible, they’ve all abated to zero well below $165,000.
        
        2) WFF does not effect the size of the tax cut that anyone got, especially not the top 1%, which this post is about.
      - burt 26.1.1.3.2
        
        29 January 2011 at 12:58 pm
        
        Marty G
        
        It might be easier in the long run if you just admit you didn’t think enough about it before making this post. Here is a clue for you. What is the cost per year of WFF vs what was the cost per year of the tax cuts National have delivered over and above the cost of the tax cuts that Labour implemented in 2008 just before the election?
        
        Marty G 26.1.1.3.2.1
        
        29 January 2011 at 1:12 pm
        
        it’s irrelevant. if national hadn’t cut tax for the top 1% the crown would be $10.6billion better off in present value terms, negating any argument for asset sales.
        
        Marty G …
        
        29 January 2011 at 1:14 pm
        
        you can similarly argue that the crown would be 10.6 billion better of in present value terms if it cut $586 million a year from health or education or wff. that’s your prerogative but you’re only serving to further undermine the privatisation argument.
        
        burt …
        
        29 January 2011 at 1:16 pm
        
        So there were no adjustments to the WFF threshold then ? No other adjustments to other rebates etc ? ummm – FAIL.
        
        Marty G …
        
        29 January 2011 at 1:27 pm
        
        none that affected the top 1% of income earners
        
        burt …
        
        29 January 2011 at 1:32 pm
        
        Marty G
        
        How stupid are you. The data provides you with the ability to determine what income bands got what value of tax cut but with no data provided for actual tax paid after the tax changes it is impossible for you to work out what the actual effect was by income band. Just keep using half the picture and slagging me off if you like, it’s your blog.
    - lprent 26.1.1.4
      
      29 January 2011 at 1:46 pm
      
      It was a description of what you looked like putting a comment up without an actual argument in it. I’m sure that you were aware in your own mind what you were talking about – but it wasn’t apparent to anyone else.
      
      So I put a spike into you to encourage you to say what you mean. I see that the treatment is at least partially successful. But it appears that you’re still not making any particular sense apart from saying that the information required is not publicly available. However all the authors can do here is to work on the information that is available. Perhaps you should ream the treasury and IRD for not providing more?
Jenny 27

30 January 2011 at 9:31 am

John Key has assured New Zealanders that the government will legislate against any foreign investor owning more than 50% of any privatised public asset.

But the continuing secret negotiations around the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership agreement is likely to give foreign investors the right to sue future New Zealand government’s if they try to limit foreign investment.

Trying to get to the bottom of this contradiction, Brian Fallow the Herald’s economics editor, on the fact that the secretive TPP agreement is likely to have an “investor-state” dispute mechanism, which allows foreign investors to sue a country if they try and regulate foreign investment.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/brian-fallow-on-the-economy/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502863&objectid=10688274

Companies investing in the other country can sue its government in an international tribunal for alleged breaches of the FTA, usually arising from some attempt by the government to regulate some part of its own economy.

These “investor-state” cases are litigated in international arbitration bodies of the World Bank or United Nations.

Public Citizen, the advocacy body Wallach and Tucker work for, has monitored 66 such cases brought under Nafta. Of the 25 resolved, the governments won in 14 cases and the investors in nine, requiring the governments concerned to pay more that US$300 million in compensation.

The chilling effect of giving multinational corporations the right to stand in the shoes of a sovereign state in this way can only be guessed at.

Australia is the exception; three of the other TPP countries have agreements with the US that include such a provision.

Asked this week about the possibility the TPP would also include it, Prime Minister John Key dismissed the idea as “far-fetched”.

But his reaction sounded more like “I have only just encountered this idea, but I wouldn’t have thought so” than “I have looked into this and I can assure you it won’t happen”.

Reassured?

John Key replied to a journalist who asked him if an “investor-state” dispute mechanism was being discussed in the secret TPP negotiations.

Key: “Not as far as I’m aware.”

Journalist: “And it’s being ruled out in that sense? The Australians apparently have ruled it out.”

Key: “I imagine we would too and I think it’s pretty farfetched.”

Despite questioning in the house by the Greens leader Russel Norman, the Government has refused to comment further.

Dr Russel Norman: Will the Prime Minister rule out signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership if the agreement includes investor-State disputes mechanisms that allow investors to sue Governments—yes or no?

Hon TIM GROSER: ….The Prime Minister has made the Government’s position quite clear. This is a far-fetched, hypothetical hunt, and I will not go beyond the statements the Prime Minister has issued.

Can we have any faith in John Key’s assurance that the government will keep a controlling share in our state assets, when his government refuses to say whether or not they will give foreign investors the right to over rule any such limitations on foreign investment?

Brian Fallow asked us. “Reassured?”

I don’t think so.
- Treetop 27.1
  
  30 January 2011 at 11:16 am
  
  Yes, always read the fine print when it comes to hidden costs and deception.

Links to post

The Standard: posted on 27 January 2011 at 6:49 pm
MS: posted on 28 January 2011 at 4:30 pm
Gabriella Turek: posted on 29 January 2011 at 6:35 am
Jessica 3: posted on 1 February 2011 at 4:21 am
No Aroha for Key « The Standard: posted on 7 February 2011 at 12:09 pm

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Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
2 days ago

Luxon Strikes Out.
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
2 days ago

In many ways the media that the experts wanted, turned out to be the media they have got
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
2 days ago

The Waitangi Tribunal Summons; or the more things stay the same
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
2 days ago

Both Parliamentary watchdogs hammer Fast-track bill
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General, John Ryan, has joined the ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
2 days ago

India makes a big bet on electric buses
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Spengeman People wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
Skeptical Science
2 days ago

Bernard’s pick ‘n’ mix of the news links at 6:36am on Tuesday, April 23
TL;DR: These six news links stood out in the last 24 hours to 6:36am on Tuesday, April 22:Scoop & Deep Dive: How Sir Peter Jackson got to have his billion-dollar exit cake and eat Hollywood too NZ Herald-$$$ Matt NippertFast Track Approval Bill: Watchdogs seek substantial curbs on ministers' powers ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
2 days ago

What is really holding up infrastructure
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
PolitikBy Richard Harman
2 days ago

“Pure Unadulterated Charge”
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
David FarrierBy David Farrier
2 days ago

Bernard's six-stack of substacks for Monday, April 22
Tonight’s six-stack includes: writes via his substack that’s he’s sceptical about the IPSOS poll last week suggesting a slide into authoritarianism here, writing: Kiwis seem to want their cake and eat it too Tal Aster writes for about How Israel turned homeowners into YIMBYs. writes via his ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
3 days ago

The media were given a little list and hastened to pick out Fast Track prospects – but the Treaty ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
3 days ago

Just trying to stay upright
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
3 days ago

“Unprecedented”
Today, former Port of Auckland CEO Tony Gibson went on trial on health and safety charges for the death of one of his workers. The Herald calls the trial "unprecedented". Firstly, it's only "unprecedented" because WorkSafe struck a corrupt and unlawful deal to drop charges against Peter Whittall over Pike ...
No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
3 days ago

Bryce Edwards: Time for “Fast-Track Watch”
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
3 days ago

Gordon Campbell on fast track powers, media woes and the Tiktok ban
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
3 days ago

The Government’s new fast-track invitation to corruption
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Point of OrderBy gadams1000
3 days ago

Maori push for parallel government structures
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
3 days ago

An announcement about an announcement
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
3 days ago

All the Green Tech in China.
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
3 days ago

Western Express Success
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
Greater AucklandBy Matt L
3 days ago

Bernard’s pick ‘n’ mix of the news links at 7:16am on Monday, April 22
TL;DR: These six news links stood out in the last 24 hours to 7:16am on Monday, April 22:Labour says Kiwis at greater risk from loan sharks as Govt plans to remove borrowing regulations NZ Herald Jenee TibshraenyHow did the cost of moving two schools blow out to more than $400m?A ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
3 days ago

The Kaka’s diary for the week to April 29 and beyond
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
4 days ago

2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #16
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
Skeptical Science
4 days ago

Bryce Edwards: The Government’s new fast-track invitation to corruption
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
4 days ago

Thank you
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
4 days ago

Determining the Engine Type in Your Car
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How to Become a Race Car Driver: A Comprehensive Guide
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How Many Cars Are There in the World in 2023? An Exploration of Global Automotive Statistics
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How Long Does It Take for Car Inspection?
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

Who Makes Mazda Cars?
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How Often to Replace Your Car Battery A Comprehensive Guide
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

Can You Register a Car Without a License?
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the Rule If you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

Mazda: A Comprehensive Evaluation of Reliability, Value, and Performance
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

What Are Struts on a Car?
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

What Does Car Registration Look Like: A Comprehensive Guide
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How to Share Computer Audio on Zoom
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How Long Does It Take to Build a Computer?
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How to Put Your Computer to Sleep
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

What is Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT)?
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

iPad vs. Tablet Computers A Comprehensive Guide to Differences
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How Are Computers Made?
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How to Add Voice Memos from iPhone to Computer
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

Why My Laptop Screen Has Lines on It: A Comprehensive Guide
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How to Right-Click on a Laptop
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

Where is the Power Button on an ASUS Laptop?
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How to Start a Dell Laptop: A Comprehensive Guide
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

Bryce Edwards: Serious populist discontent is bubbling up in New Zealand
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
5 days ago

How to Take a Screenshot on an Asus Laptop A Comprehensive Guide with Detailed Instructions and Illu...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

How to Factory Reset Gateway Laptop A Comprehensive Guide
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

The Folly Of Impermanence.
“You talking about me?” The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Bowalley Road
5 days ago

A crisis of ambition
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
5 days ago

Have 308 people in the Education Ministry’s Curriculum Development Team spent over $100m on a 60-p...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
5 days ago

'This bill is dangerous for the environment and our democracy'
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
5 days ago

The Bank of our Tamariki and Mokopuna.
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
5 days ago

The worth of it all
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
5 days ago

What is the Hardest Sport in the World?
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
5 days ago

What is the Most Expensive Sport?
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Gareth’s WorldBy admin
6 days ago

Release: Working together on consistent support for veterans this Anzac Day
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Labour Blog
1 day ago

Release: Penny drops – but what about Seymour and Peters?
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Labour Blog
1 day ago

Release: Budget blunder shows Nicola Willis could cut recovery funding
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
Labour Blog
2 days ago

Further environmental mismanagement on the cards
The Government’s resource management reforms will add to the heavy and ever-growing burden this Government is loading on to our environment. ...
Greens
2 days ago

Release: RMA changes will be a disaster for environment
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour Blog
2 days ago

Release: Labour supports urgent changes to emergency management system
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
Labour Blog
2 days ago

Release: Labour calls for New Zealand to recognise Palestine
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Labour Blog
3 days ago

Release: Three strikes law political posturing of worst kind
The Government is bringing back a law that has little evidential backing just to look tough, Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
Labour Blog
3 days ago

Release: Government cuts unbelievably target child exploitation, violent extremism, ports and airpor...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
Labour Blog
3 days ago

Three strikes has failed before and will fail again
Resurrecting the archaic three-strikes legislation is an unwelcome return to a failed American-style approach to justice. ...
Greens
3 days ago

Release: Environmental protection vital, not ‘onerous’
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Labour Blog
3 days ago

Release: Govt cuts doctors and nurses in hiring freeze
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Labour Blog
6 days ago

Fast-track submissions period must be extended
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
Greens
6 days ago

Release: Progress on climate will be undone by Govt
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Labour Blog
6 days ago

Release: Dark day for Kiwi kids as a third of Govt cuts affect them
News that 1000 jobs at the Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki could go is devastating for future generations of New Zealanders. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Release: Alarm as Government signals further blow to school lunches
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Release: Quick, submit – stop Govt’s dodgy approvals bill
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Government throws coal on the climate crisis fire
The Government’s policy announced today to ease consenting for coal mining will have a lasting impact across generations. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Release: Public transport costs to double as National looks at unaffordable roading project instead
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Release: Cost of living in Auckland still not a priority
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Greens look to fast-track submissions on harmful law
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Govt should stop making people’s lives harder and build more homes
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Melissa Lee missing in action on media
The action Melissa Lee promised to protect democracy and the media sector is missing, Media and Communications spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Landlord Government leaves little hope for renters
The Government’s announcement on tenancy rules prove that it does not care about renters. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Opportunity to build a more sustainable economy
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Significant step forward in fixing cruel and unjust past
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Missed opportunity but NZ will surely one day recognise the right to a sustainable environment
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Don’t cut our lunches – clear message sent to Government
Tens of thousands of people are demanding the Government commits to fully funding free and healthy school lunches. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Govt makes U-turn on Suicide Prevention Office
Labour welcomes the Government’s U-turn on the closure of the Suicide Prevention Office, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

CCC issues warning over further climate delay
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Luxon targets lame and lousy example of leadership
If talk is cheap, Chris Luxon’s “targets” are bankrupt. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Luxon targets are lousy example of leadership
If talk is cheap, Chris Luxon’s “targets” are bankrupt. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Commitment to disability communities missing from Govt priorities
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Methane target review is dangerous duplication
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Greens
3 weeks ago

Anzac Commemorative Address – Dawn Service, Gallipoli, Türkiye
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 hours ago

PM announces changes to portfolios
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 day ago

New catch limits for unique fishery areas
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 day ago

Minister welcomes hydrogen milestone
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Urgent changes to system through first RMA Amendment Bill
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Overseas decommissioning models considered
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Release of North Island Severe Weather Event Inquiry
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Justice Minister to attend Human Rights Council
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Patterson reopens world’s largest wool scouring facility
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Speech to the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective Summit, 18 April 2024
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Government to introduce revised Three Strikes law
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

New diplomatic appointments
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Humanitarian support for Ethiopia and Somalia
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Arts Minister congratulates Mataaho Collective
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Supporting better financial outcomes for Kiwis
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Trade relationship with China remains strong
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

PM’s South East Asia mission does the business
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

$41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Judicial appointments announced
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
7 days ago

Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Taupō takes pole position
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Government backing mussel spat project
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Government focused on getting people into work
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Inflation coming down, but more work to do
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Response To ANZAC Day Protests
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Scoop politics
57 mins ago

Claimants want Children's Minister to front up kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face)
Waitangi Tribunal claimants will appeal a High Court decision to overturn a summons order from the Tribunal for Children's Minister Karen Chhour. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 hour ago

‘It bucked our lads up wonderfully’: the lightning-quick battle that marked the birth of the US-...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918. Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 hours ago

GCSB refuses to release details of spy deal 'to protect interests'
The spy agency is refusing to release a copy of its deal with a foreign agency to run a secret operation out of this country. ...
Radio NZ – political
3 hours ago

Die In for Palestine Marks ANZAC day
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Scoop politics
3 hours ago

Ancient nomads you’ve probably never heard of disappeared from Europe 1,000 years ago. Now, DNA an...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD). Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
5 hours ago

Don’t mention the war: On grandparents and Anzac biscuits
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits. First published in 2021. All my ...
The SpinoffBy Amanda Thompson
5 hours ago

If plastic manufacturing goes up 10%, plastic pollution goes up 10% – and we’re set for a huge ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
6 hours ago

Governor-General's Anzac Day Dawn Service Address
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Scoop politics
6 hours ago

Angling-Conservation Group Sees Fast Track Bill As Undemocratic
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Scoop politics
6 hours ago

Remembering the great TrueBliss vs Bardot national anthem sing-off
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff. First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
The SpinoffBy Jamie Wall
6 hours ago

Help Me Hera: Do I even want the public sector job I might be about to lose?
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nz Dear Hera, May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
The SpinoffBy Hera Lindsay Bird
8 hours ago

ANZAC Day Wreath Calls For No Future Deaths From AUKUS
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Scoop politics
9 hours ago

Swimmer does everything and more to get to Paris
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
NewsroomBy Dave Crampton
11 hours ago

Seize the day
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell. First published in 2022. The high school’s head girl and ...
The SpinoffBy David Hill
11 hours ago

The first, forgotten Anzacs, more than 50 years before Gallipoli
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association. First published in 2018. When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
The SpinoffBy Scott Hamilton
11 hours ago

Poem for Anzac Day: ‘Hoki Mai’ by Tayi Tibble
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble. Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
The SpinoffBy Tayi Tibble
12 hours ago

Poem for Anzac Day: ‘My World War I Poem’ by Bill Manhire
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin. My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
The SpinoffBy Bill Manhire
12 hours ago

Book of the Week: Talia Marshall on living legend Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
NewsroomBy Talia Marshall
12 hours ago

Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 25 April
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 25 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Newsroom Puzzles
12 hours ago

Daily crossword, Thursday 25 April
The post Daily crossword, Thursday 25 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Newsroom Puzzles
12 hours ago

High Court overturns Waitangi Tribunal summons to Minister for Children Karen Chhour
The minister was due to give evidence on Friday regarding the government's plans to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act ...
Radio NZ – political
20 hours ago

Sydney University students set up Gaza solidarity camp as war marks 200 days
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
20 hours ago

Most bees don’t die after stinging – and other surprising bee facts
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

How Anzac deaths changed the way we mourn to this day
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/Flickr Victor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

Sugar gums have a reputation as risky branch-droppers but they’re important to bees, parrots and p...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

Inflation is slowly falling, while student debt is climbing: 6 graphs that explain today’s CPI
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

Our housing system is broken and the poorest Australians are being hardest hit
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

‘It bucked our lads up wonderfully’: the lightning-quick WWI battle that marked the birth of the...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918. Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

First Nations Anzacs sacrificed life and limb for Country. Why aren’t their stories shown onscreen...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War Memorial Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

NZ’s Media Minister Melissa Lee demoted after Newshub crisis
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
21 hours ago

Our tall, wet forests were not open and park-like when colonists arrived – and we shouldn’t be b...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
22 hours ago

Aces in their places: Luxon plays coy over ministers' competence
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Radio NZ – political
22 hours ago

Politics with Michelle Grattan: Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
22 hours ago

Melissa Lee’s media Hail Mary comes up short
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
NewsroomBy Laura Walters
23 hours ago

Northland council continues four-year Māori ward fight in face of government changes
A council that played a key role in getting Māori ward polling removed is now lobbying against government plans to reinstate binding referendums. ...
Radio NZ – political
23 hours ago

Education Ministry cuts: Roles providing support for disabled kids among those proposed to be axed
Leaked documents show which divisions will bear the brunt of hundreds of proposed job cuts at the Ministry of Education. ...
Radio NZ – political
23 hours ago

Land Information New Zealand proposes 57 job cuts
It is the latest department to announce job cuts as part of the government's cost-cutting measures. ...
Radio NZ – political
24 hours ago

Watch: Government's 'wheels are falling off already', Hipkins says, after ministers d...
The Labour leader says the demotion of two ministers today shows the PM "didn't have particularly good judgement". ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

The stories of Australia’s Muslim Anzacs have long been forgotten. It’s time we honour them
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

National emergency response facing 26 separate inquiries: What have we learned
The country's emergency response is besieged by inquiries, despite years of reviews and efforts to make laws that deliver. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Sexual assault victims give evidence in court, but alleged perpetrators don’t have to. Bruce Lehrm...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

What’s the difference between ADD and ADHD?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Watch: Government's 'wheels are falling off already', Hipkins says, after minsters de...
The Labour leader says the demotion of two ministers today shows the PM "didn't have particularly good judgement". ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Anti-Poverty Groups Urge New Minister For Disability Issues To Reverse Funding Cuts
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

New Media Minister Must Rule Out State Intervention In Private Media
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

OPM leader’s open letter condemns Australia’s ‘treachery’ over Papua
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
1 day ago

‘Emily Dickinson made me into a writer’: Lauren Groff on the power of reading
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff. The book I wish I’d written If I wish I’d written a ...
The SpinoffBy The Spinoff Review of Books
1 day ago

Watch live: Chris Hipkins speaks after ministers Melissa Lee, Penny Simmonds lose portfolios
The Labour leader speaks from Parliament after the prime minister's sudden Cabinet reshuffle. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

What kind of diner are you? 6 types of diners who avoid plant-based meat dishes
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Auckland University Criminologist Slams ‘Racist’ Three Strikes Law
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

Australia-born judge facing potential deportation from Kiribati
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
1 day ago

Can Body-Worn Cameras Work In Australia And New Zealand? Lessons From Milestone’s Denmark Survey
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

Media Minister Melissa Lee demoted from Cabinet, Penny Simmonds stripped of portfolio
Melissa Lee has been stripped of the Media portfolio, while Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues role. Follow as the PM explains. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Climate change and human rights: how a landmark legal victory in Europe could affect NZ
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vernon Rive, Associate Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images A seven-year campaign by a group of over 2,000 Swiss women – average age 73 – recently ended with a European Court of Human Rights decision variously ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Page-turning rural gothic: Ash by Louise Wallace, reviewed
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
The SpinoffBy Claire Mabey
1 day ago

Lower catch limits in force for Fiordland, Chatham Islands
New catch limits in Fiordland mean recreational fishers will only be able to take much smaller bags of finfish and shellfish. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

New emergency management legislation delayed after bill pulled by Government
The bill was introduced by the previous government in June last year. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

‘It was my Eras tour’: Meet the world’s biggest TrueBliss fans
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
The SpinoffBy Alex Casey
1 day ago

No more Census forms? Stats NZ mulls form of future surveys
The traditional Census form could become a thing of the past, as Stats NZ starts to rely more heavily on administrative data. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

The voices that vanish in a decimated newsroom
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
The SpinoffBy Eda Tang
1 day ago

Half our colleagues suffer pain and discomfort from periods. But they’re still a taboo subject at ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

'We're going to be banning gang patches' – Police Minister adamant
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Is it possible to ‘objectively’ judge music? We asked 5 experts
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Gloomy vibe from infrastructure sector as RMA changes unveiled
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
The SpinoffBy Anna Rawhiti-Connell
1 day ago

From Gallipoli to Gaza: remembering the Anzacs not as a ‘coming of age’ tale but as a lesson for...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

The end of the Census? Stats NZ to look at whether survey is still needed
The traditional Census survey could become a thing of the past as Stats NZ starts to rely more heavily on administrative data. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Leaked document reveals millions of dollars of cuts at Te Whatu Ora
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The “financial sustainability target”, which was “allocated” to Waitaha, is consistent with what’s happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
NewsroomBy David Williams
1 day ago

Hiring freeze leaves Oranga Tamariki with no lawyers in Gisborne or Southland
The ministry's lawyers work with vulnerable children across the country, often in the youth and family courts. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Is KiwiBuild finally on its last legs?
A look at the state of the previous government’s affordable housing scheme, and what could come next. Remind me: What’s KiwiBuild again? First announced in 2012, KiwiBuild was a flagship policy of the Labour Party heading into both its 2014 and 2017 election campaigns. With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, ...
The SpinoffBy Stewart Sowman-Lund
1 day ago

Labour has forgotten it was in government
Labour in opposition will be shocked to learn which party had six years in power but squandered any chance to make real change. Grant Robertson’s valedictory speech was a predictably entertaining trip down memory lane. The acid-tongued incoming Otago University chancellor administered a sick burn to the coalition government. He ...
The SpinoffBy Hayden Donnell
1 day ago

‘I was in awe of Germaine Greer’s face, her neck, her hands’
The following interview with former Green Party MP Sue Kedgley came about because she features in the new memoir Hine Toa by activist Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku; the two knew each other at the University of Auckland in the early 70s, when they were both took on leadership roles in the ...
NewsroomBy Steve Braunias
1 day ago

Can social investment shift the dial on welfare and wellbeing?
Exploring the arguments for and against a social investment approach The post Can social investment shift the dial on welfare and wellbeing? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Emma Hatton
1 day ago

Lessons identified must become lessons learned for emergency preparedness
Opinion: It cost too much, apparently, to implement a ‘common operational picture’ The post Lessons identified must become lessons learned for emergency preparedness appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Lianne Dalziel
1 day ago

Selling assets to pay for tax cuts for richest 1%

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