The rich want to hide their wealth because of kidnap threats

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, March 22nd, 2015 - 173 comments
Categories: australian politics, capitalism, class war, wages, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: , ,

Gina Reinhart

I kid you not. The wealthy in Australia want to avoid publishing corporate tax information because of the threat of kidnapping.  At least this is what they are saying …

From the Guardian:

The assistant treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, told the Coalition party room on Tuesday the publication of the financial statements of large private companies raised “real safety concerns”. He said the 700 private companies captured by the new law covering more than 1,600 companies with a turnover of more than $100m should be exempt.

The prime minister, Tony Abbott, agreed the Coalition would implement this exemption. The changes will require a legislative amendment.

Frydenberg was responding to questions from senator Cory Bernardi and the New South Wales MP Craig Laundy, who argued private companies should be exempt on commercial and personal security grounds. They argued the information could harm a company’s commercial operations and potentially leave private business people and their families at risk of kidnapping.

After the meeting, Frydenberg said: “The government is considering its response to concerns about the publication of information about the tax affairs of privately owned Australian companies. Legitimate concerns have been raised about the misuse of information related to privately held companies that is made public as part of tax transparency measures.”

There are two rather large problems with this justification.  Firstly there is no evidence of an increase of kidnapping of Australia’s uber wealthy since the requirement was put in place.  Secondly  their lifestyles tend to be that ostentatious that a subscription to Womens Day will provide as many targets as a kidnapper could ever want.

Of course if the uber wealthy are that concerned the problem could be easily solved.  All they have to do is share the wealth around a bit.  They can retain sufficient to live more than comfortably.  Decreasing inequality has been shown to reduce crime and improve societal outcomes.

And how bad is inequality worldwide?  Well how about this for a statistic?  In 2014 Wall Street’s bonus pool was double the combined earnings of all Americans working full-time jobs at minimum wage.  We have failed to change things following the Global Financial Crisis and have let the inmates take over the asylum again.

173 comments on “The rich want to hide their wealth because of kidnap threats ”

  1. Colonial Rawshark 1

    There is some dim awareness amongst the power elite that levels of inequality are reaching unsustainable, social order disruption type levels.

    The other factor here of course, is that by hiding more and more information, they ability of the elites to run self serving scams and corrupt activities within our society increases exponentially.

    • Anno1701 1.1

      “There is some dim awareness amongst the power elite that levels of inequality are reaching unsustainable, social order disruption type levels.”

      some of them are more than aware of the pitchforks on the horizon IMO

    • weka 1.2

      “There is some dim awareness amongst the power elite that levels of inequality are reaching unsustainable, social order disruption type levels.”

      And perhaps a more acute awareness that if you promote a society based on scamming power and money and privilege, some people are going to figure out that they too can be part of that take what you want just because you can mentality.

      Although I tend to think that the safety concerns angle is a barely disguised attempt to keep the reality of their riches secret for other reasons.

      • Maui 1.2.1

        “And perhaps a more acute awareness that if you promote a society based on scamming power and money and privilege, some people are going to figure out that they too can be part of that take what you want just because you can mentality.”

        Yeah the large corporates are such great role models for our society eh.. We have them at the top of the private sector and then there’s the government operating in a similar mould. Luckily most small businesses and local organisations have moral accountability. It is a strange dynamic though.

    • Olwyn 1.3

      The financialisation, off-shoring etc, that have made these people so wealthy have also destroyed the mutual dependency between the different social strata. It is no wonder then, that some of those who lost out on the deal have come to see the rich as an alien tribe that they might as well invade. Public morality and a conception of the public good might have been able to curb such notions more convincingly had the wealthy themselves not disdained them in the first place.

  2. tc 2

    The liberal/Nat coalition can pontificate all they want as the senate is beyond their control now that palmers party has imploded and greens/independents hold a block.

    They display a level of shallowness and contempt typified by Abbotts xenophobic, sexist, elitist behaviour and the refugee treatment being dished out by the likes of serco in remote islands.

    Labor are AWOL under shorten as an opposition, compliantly letting Abbott pass data retention and surveillance measures their MSM have only just woken up to.

  3. joe90 4

    Pitchforks!.

    Santa Fe Institute economist: one in four Americans is employed to guard the wealth of the rich.

    http://boingboing.net/2010/02/05/santa-fe-institute-e.html

  4. Rolf 5

    Unfortunately, this is real. Two of my friends got kidnapped, one on Mexico, the other in an Arab country. The both survived. In one cast the company paid a ransomed, in the other a military commando group freed him. Besides, all business must be kept secret, otherwise these is no business and no jobs. To satisfy the information greed of a few communist leaning agitators is a bad exchange for jobs and business.

    • North 5.1

      That comment about information greedy commies seems ‘ralph’ before it’s “Rolf”.

      Even so, with his taste for ”bulk collection” TheGodKey will be put out.

    • Murray Rawshark 5.2

      Rolf Sabin?
      Your imaginary friends got kidnapped in countries where the rich do not pay taxes and society is violent and insecure. Besides, flashing greenbacks in a Ciudad Juarez brothel was a very bad idea.

      • Rolf 5.2.1

        Sounds like you are talking about old New Zealand. Maybe the only reason agriculture is the only industry left is that the soil is too much to ship out. I assure you, it was not funny for the guys. Funny though that these “imaginary” people could drink beer.

        • McFlock 5.2.1.1

          “Old New Zealand”. lol.

          But I thought the nats had cut the crime rate and delivered a brighter future?

          Anyhoo, nice to know that the jealous paranoia of the nouveau riche is alive and well amongst the tory heartland.

          • Rolf 5.2.1.1.1

            I don’t think this is a question of the Nats or not. The entire attitude just has to change in New Zealand. I was in Singapore a few weeks ago. 60 years ago it was an impoverished fishing village living off aid. Look at them today. You snoop around other peoples business, your out or in prison. Look at China, where I am writing this. I just visited the place where the epic film”1942” was made. 3 million people starved to death. Today people live better than kiwis, and last year a man went to prison six months for snooping out private information of just 30 people. Just about everyone who smells success just leave Kiwiland, because the feel they have to. It needs to change.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 5.2.1.1.1.1

              You snoop around other peoples business

              Genuine question: do you mean tax avoidance?

              Or something like industrial espionage?

              Or some other third thing that I didn’t grasp?

              • Rolf

                No – I was not talking about tax or industrial espionage, but about the general peeping tom, who often is a failure, who just want to know all about you so they can harass and moan over it. As I know, you tax affairs are not public, officially, but the system leaks like a sieve of course. New Zealand has one of the world’s highest taxes, and we get very little out of it, aren’t we, maybe the highest real estate and living costs too.

                • One Anonymous Bloke

                  That depends who “we” are, and what we put into it.

                  • Rolf

                    Who – those who put something into it – what – hard work, long hours, sweat blood and tears, savings and risk.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke

                      And there it is.

                      The moment where “Our Nation My Nation” is revealed to mean “my personal interests”, as expressed by whining about being a law-abiding citizen and paying 39% marginal tax.

                      Oh! The humanity!

                • McFlock

                  New Zealand has one of the world’s highest taxes,

                  wrong, wrong, just plain wrong…

                  • Rolf

                    Is it, 39% marginal tax, 15 % GST, fuel tax, user pay, energy tax, fees, keep adding, you end up with some 50 % to 60 %, but OK, it is not the worst, as in Scandinavia where it is about 80%.

                    • McFlock

                      lol
                      China: top rate 45%, 17% vat/gst on many items, and what are the benefits and pensions like?

                      Your “one of the highest in the world” isn’t even as bad as the land of opportunity you work in.

                    • Rolf []

                      And the first NZD 40,000 equivalent by purchase power income is tax zero, petrol half the price, a good lunch at the corner restaurant NZD 5, a bus ride 35 cents, 100 ml local “whiskey” 80 cents, a new car you can buy from NZD 3,000, pensions are tax free, normal income tax is 8 %, rates are NZD 25 a month, 17% is on a few imported luxury items, and I have never heard of anyone paying the 45 %. Now we got the total picture sorted.

                    • McFlock

                      now we have your blinkered assertions sorted, at any rate.

                      I suppose the Tibetans are all happy, and nothing happened at Tienamen square, too…

                    • Rolf []

                      I am often in Tibet, and they pay no tax at all and people are very happy. I have many friends there. Tibet is reality about 30 different nations with different culture and languages, and self governing is slowly being sorted. Tienanmen was a student uprising as was the communist revolution, the culture revolution, and the entire saga of the civil war between 1912 to 1949. We know what happened at Tienanmen 1989 and it was a chain reaction of stupidity and botch activities from all sides. The recent Hong Kong events was another very classical student uprising but initiated by a foreign government, but they handled that better.

                    • McFlock

                      lol
                      It says nothing to you that someone says “Tibet” and your first answer is “tax system”?

                      Because that right there is a clue for you.

            • McFlock 5.2.1.1.1.2

              Are you terrified of being kidnapped in China, too? Or is that just Maxico and somewhere in the Middle East?

              Because NZ ain’t perfect, but these days the worst an exploiter of the proletariat can reasonably expect in NZ is to be called a dickhead. Unless they start buying p, of course.

              • Rolf

                China is one of the safest countries in the world, personal information is strictly secret, even the police have very strict personal restrictions what they are allowed to do, and as in New Zealand they go unarmed, not even guns in the cars. New Zealand is not perfect, but not the worst either, what is frightening in New Zealand is the development. I am just now reading about a machine gun massacre in Gothenburg, Sweden, exact what you see in 30’s gangster films only that this is real, it happened, and that is a country where even your tax affairs, home address, telephone, work place and relatives and friends are public property.

                • mickysavage

                  Would you rather live in China? Really?

                  • Macro

                    I gather Rolf is from China. The web site to which his name links is based there.
                    This paragraph is interesting – Apparently these people

                    We work on location and we have to follow local laws, regulations and custom. Foreign laws or lack of restrictions do not apply. We are free to report, create, “dig”, unmask and criticise within the local framework, but we don’t “dig dirt”, interfere in personal freedom, violate personal privacy and integrity, we do not spread false information and rumours.

                    • Rolf

                      I was actually born i northern EU, came to NZ as a young man on adventure and staid, and has been living in many countries around the world for my work. I came to China first time in the late 70’s and I have also been living in Japan many years. Too many times we hear from foreign journalists that they want a really juicy dirt story on China, revolutionary secret cells, hidden churches, black prisons, inhuman boot camps, secret resistance cells, pollution, it does not matter if it is true, just make up some false interviews and faked photos, and they will pay. We tell them to F – off.

                  • Rolf

                    I came to China first time in the late 70’s, lived here permanently the last 12 years, and through my citizenships I can freely choose Australia, New Zealand or EU. Huge personal freedom (New Zealand is not bad either), huge place to move around in, an incredible history with many cultures, friendly people, excellent living cost, excellent taxes and public service, but I am not trying to say New Zealand is bad.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke

                      I am not trying to say New Zealand is bad.

                      Just about everyone who smells success just leave Kiwiland, because the feel they have to. It needs to change.

                      You’re right: you aren’t trying to say New Zealand is bad. You’re just taking your dump right out in the open.

                      Which says nothing whatsoever about New Zealand, and a whole bunch about you.

                    • Rolf []

                      What I am trying to say is that there are much better places to go if you want to make something out of your life than New Zealand, and as I heard, 40% of all skilled kiwis has already discovered that. Except the real estate speculators, how many successful people and companies has actually staid in New Zealand. I can’t think of any just now. Maybe someone like to fill in the blanks. What I am also trying to say is that New Zealand can do better, much better, but it has to take the lead from those who are successful, as Singapore. What about flops as Air New Zealand, or disasters as Ansett against Singapore Airlines.

                    • McFlock

                      40% of all skilled NZers?

                      lol
                      Whose propaganda are you listening to?

                    • Rolf []

                      That is the figure that is banded around. What is a fact is that NZ has the proportionally largest expat population in the world, with over one million residing outside the country. Read the E2NZ blog for more details.

                    • McFlock

                      Is your linking hand broken?

                      Anyway, yes, we have an OE culture. This is a good thing. And maybe the mercenaries (who want to profit without contributing to the society that madethem successful) never return to NZ. That is also a good thing, because I live in NZ.

                    • Rolf []

                      It looks more like a flight reflex than an OE culture though, and by the way, Australia is not really an OE. People need to profit before they can be contributing providing more jobs and welfare. The problem is often that they get ripped off and taxed to death before they even get there, and that is why they take off. If you think it is a good thing your model country should be North Korea. I really would love to see NZ develop beyond the BBB culture (BMW-Batch-Boat) which is a sort of glass ceiling. I meet Kiwis overseas who employ hundreds of people, and I have seen kiwis driven offshore taking hundreds of jobs with them.

                    • McFlock

                      “Taxed to death”. Wow, that’s really bad, eh.

                      Must be hell, seeing a country where people are happy living in comfort rather than having thousands of wage-slaves at their beck and call. And where people can see company tax returns. Practically Orwellian. /sarc

                    • Rolf []

                      I am living it. 30 years ago NZ was a happy place, almost everyone had their own home, now they are wage slaves trying to pay of the huge mortgage, or paying the rent to the house investor sharks, and keeping up with the taxes, and hoping they will not get sick as the public health has collapsed. Now the good times are elsewhere. Most kiwis are probably too tired to think about someone elses company tax returns.

                • One Anonymous Bloke

                  Again genuine questions: are you afraid for you and your family? As a result of your ‘wealth’?

                  If so, in what sense is it wealth?

                  • Rolf

                    Afraid, no, because nobody knows, and nobody can find out if I am wealthy or not, so nobody can target me. The “wealth” is a comfortable safe living, safety to walk the streets, freedom to work, a police force loved and unarmed, warm water from the tap, good food, great neighbors, even if a few are real odd-balls, and a treasure trove of history, and a spectacular great nature around the corner.

                    • McFlock

                      lol
                      sounds largely like NZ, although China’s history is bigger.

                    • Rolf []

                      NZ is certainly not bad, but don’t read about what is happening in EU, it will make you afraid of the dark. They think now that China’s history is some 20,000 years old, and all of it is certainly not peaceful.

                • McFlock

                  lol
                  and yet the murder rate in China is bigger than in NZ is bigger than Sweden.

                  I guess it’s all perspective…

                  • Rolf

                    You have to stop reading US propaganda sites, but China do have an AOS just like New Zealand. I just have to step outside the door the check, and I travel a lot. Police in Hong Kong and Taiwan carry guns though. It is quite possible that police in big city trouble spots will carry guns, but that are rare exceptions on a national scale.

                    • Grant

                      AOS my arse. If things get a bit heavy they have these guys to call on:

                      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Armed_Police

                    • Rolf []

                      Made me actually laugh. It is the military or PLA (army) who has green uniforms. The China AOS units has the same uniform as the kiwi AOS, and they are weapon trained. The guy on the picture is second rank officer cadet under training. At graduation he will be the first and lowest ranked officer. The photo is taken outside the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the guys parade unarmed. It is a guard of honor just like at Buckingham Palace. There is a sub division of the PLA similar to the US National Guard and those people can be deployed at riots and terrorist attacks. For instance, the US National Guard is a paramilitary division of the army and also deployed at riots or uprisings or just for security. I don’t think NZ has something similar. Some of these myths and conspiracy theories are often right out amusing.

                    • Grant

                      You didn’t read the linked article did you? The PAP (People’s Armed Police) Were originally part of the Army responsible for internal security (and therefore share similar uniform and rank insignia) but were separated out and given an internal policing function including riot control and traffic policing. You seem to not know quite as much as you think you do.

                    • Rolf []

                      I did read it, it describes a division of the army, and has nothing to do with the police or the police AOS. It is the equivalent of the US national Guard. but I don’t think NZ has anything equivalent. Besides, these articles are just part of the American propaganda flow, and some brainless people actually believe them.

                    • Grant

                      Rolf@23/3/12.54.
                      You clearly didn’t read it nearly well enough because it clearly states: “The PAP’s primary mission is internal security. The first law on the People’s Armed Police, the Law on the People’s Armed Police Force (PAPF), was passed in August 2009, giving it statutory authority to respond to riots, terrorist attacks or other emergencies. Such units guard government buildings at all levels (including party and state organisations, foreign embassies and consulates), provide personal protection to senior government officials, provide security functions to public corporations and major public events. Some units perform guard duty in civilian prisons and provide executioners for the state. The PAP also maintains tactical counter-terrorism (CT) units in the Immediate Action Unit (IAU), Snow Wolf Commando Unit (SWCU) and various Special Police Units (SPU).”

                      And also:

                      “The PAP has a dual command structure including the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the State Council through the Ministry of Public Security. By law however, the PAP is NOT PART of the PLA.”

                      The PAP also provides “Secial Police Units” which “are SWAT units of the Chinese People’s Armed Police at the provincial and municipal level. There is at least one of such unit in each Chinese province to offer their services when requested by the local police, or other law enforcement agencies such as the customs service and the regular police.”

                      In other words, they are the iron fist within the velvet glove.

                      Rather than glibly mouthing off about how the fully cited WIkipedia article is a propaganda vehicle for America, what say you do what has been asked of you before and provide your own links with verifiable citations which prove Wikipedia to be wrong?

                    • Rolf []

                      That is nearly an exact copy of the US National Guard, and true, the purpose of entire PLA is national security, that means defense. It is not designed or equipped to raid foreign countries, or oppress its citizens, like some other military forces. Maybe you should come to China and take look for yourself, instead of reading sloppy US translations. I just wish I had time to help all victims of US propaganda, but I don’t. Remember, I don’t have to read anything, I meet these people and I can ask and see for myself.

            • Ergo Robertina 5.2.1.1.1.3

              ‘You snoop around other peoples business, your out or in prison…’

              Greater transparency is linked with better performance of companies and organisations, and thus that of countries Rolf; there’s research on that point.
              That your model for New Zealand is an authoritarian state shows you’re pretty disconnected from what constitutes a decent life.

              • Rolf

                Not only research, but reality. Yes – if I put something into a company, I want to know, I want transparency, but I don’t want the moaner who put in nothing to know. I agree.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 5.2.1.2

          I expect they’ll find it “funny” that you decided to share their stories to score a political point, Rolf. I’m laughing very not indeed.

          • Rolf 5.2.1.2.1

            I am not in politics, never will be, but I am trying to make a point. Few things are so hated in this world as “peeping toms”, snoopers. The victim simply leaves if there is no other alternative. Take a look at the New Zealand trade balance.

            • Macro 5.2.1.2.1.1

              Yet that is your job.
              Incidentally this is not “peeping tom” to require – as is currently the case – the full disclosure of income and tax for all people
              This is how a civilised society exists and ensures that all play their full part. Even the Queen of England discloses her income and tax paid!

              • Rolf

                What they do in England I don’t know. Last time I was there was 1975. It is not the public snoopers that is to supervise tax compliance, that is the Soviet communist system, and I don’t ever want to live under it again. As far as I know, even New Zealand has tax confidentiality.

            • Macro 5.2.1.2.1.2

              The trade balance has nothing to do with whether or not people disclose their earnings – it has everything to do with whether or not countries impose import restrictions whereas NZ innocently and naively imposes none.
              Free trade is not necessarily Fair Trade.

              • Macro

                The Trade imbalance also has a great deal to do with the fact that NZers have been increasingly encouraged to live beyond their means by banks lending increasing amounts of money on houses. Private debt in this country is huge.

                • Colonial Rawshark

                  sounds like you are talking about the “current account deficit” of which the trade deficit forms a part. The banks are pulling about $5B a year in profits out of NZ.

                • Rolf

                  Absolutely agree. The “wise men” beancounters talk about inflation, but when the inflation i house prices are 30% or more, they say nothing, just lower the interest rates to get more inflation. Somewhere it will crash.

              • Rolf

                The trade balance is a good barometer over how many productive people stay or leave, the exporters, and to have your private affairs snooped on is a good reason to pack up and leave, and dump the jobs. I agree that free trade is not fair trade. Just look at the massive US import restrictions and trade barriers.

  5. infused 6

    heh, that’s so silly it’s quite funny.

  6. les 7

    you really should watch who you associate with…after all…misery loves company.

  7. Cantabrian 8

    Utter tripe Rolf. New Zealand is nowhere near the world’s highest taxed country. Try Denmark for that.
    Who taught you how to spell btw?

    • Rolf 8.1

      I can agree, in part, Denmark has about 80% effective tax, New Zealand 50 % to 60 %, so far below. To be successful, look at Singapore, or Hong Kong – first NZD 40,000 – no tax, on average 7%.

      • McFlock 8.1.1

        So to be successful, we need to tax the poor nothing and tax the employer at 11-36%, plus a corporate tax and an income tax?

        And that your initial “one of the world’s highest taxes” was bullshit.

        • Rolf 8.1.1.1

          The problem with that is that too many want to be poor, and nobody want to employ people with that tax. Maybe we are already there. Hong Kong government still get so much money they can’t spend it, so they are distributing it to everyone living there, tax free. Taxes is a cancer on a society. You want to pay more to Len Browns secret rooms, feel free.

          • McFlock 8.1.1.1.1

            🙄
            isn’t it amazing how many more people want to be poor when the nats are in government.

            Personally, I’d prefer it is we all paid a little more tax and the paranoid, blinkered delusionals who never provide a source for their assertions (some of which even they agree are bullshit just a few hours later) fucked off to other corners of the globe.

            • Rolf 8.1.1.1.1.1

              I agree with that. What we need is to stop this being used as a political football and we need some certainty and stability. If you want to be poor, fine, but you should not be able to live a good life on others work, just have a decent poor life if you choose to. On the other hand, people must have the opportunity to lift themselves up to the level where they like to be, and that is difficult today. I don’t believe in taxing people and a country into prosperity. Tax is a cancer.

              • McFlock

                🙄

                Tax is simply the redistribution of resources.

                Idiocy and self-absorption is a cancer.

                • Rolf

                  Absolutely right, it get redistributed to the politicians and bureaucrats so they can spend it to buy more votes.

                  • McFlock

                    Your mindless repitition of rote-learned catechism is evidence that capitalism is not a meritocracy.

  8. Rolf 9

    I agree. That is why it is so important to make sure that those who put something into it, get something out of it, and the reward is not pilfered by someone else.

    • McFlock 9.1

      Says the dude seeking success in a nominally commun1st country

      • Rolf 9.1.1

        China started to abandon the communism 1976, and this has largely been successful. Just look at Jack Ma (Alibaba). One of the richest men in the world. I have enough now he say, now I will spend my money training other how to make money, and he ism putting his money where his mouth is.

        • McFlock 9.1.1.1

          And what proportion of the populace, urban and rural, have running water?

          • Rolf 9.1.1.1.1

            In the urban areas, 100 %. The rural areas are more like NZ rural areas. China is a very mountainous country, and I have often seen they diverting water from a mountain stream right into the house. No taps. Some places collect rain water as in NZ, and some use wells. Solar heaters and solar panels are almost standard in the rural areas.

            • McFlock 9.1.1.1.1.1

              again, failure to link.

              • Rolf

                Link – to what. I just went to the kitchen to boil and egg, and take my word for it, the water tap was still there and worked. What do you want to be linked to, my kitchen sink??? Mind you, I haven’t knocked door at the other some 3,500 homes in the town to check their water taps, but I think I can safely assume they are there.

                • McFlock

                  Something other than your personal anecdotes might be nice.

                  World water programme data, chinese government data, wikipedia data, NGO data, basically any indication that you don’t believe that what you see within a hundred yards or so of your meatsack is the sum total of the human experience on this planet.

                  • Rolf

                    If you can find some statistics I would also like to know, Not anecdotes but personal observation the last 15 years or so with travel from Harbin to Hainan and Xiamen to Tibet. If you want to know, come and check for yourself. What about statistics for NZ, I have never seen any, but it may exist. Not just a few hundred yards is it. Do some work yourself.

                    • McFlock

                      Not anecdotes but personal observation

                      [headdesk]
                      You’re an idiot.

                      Anyway, for a starter:
                      China
                      NZ

                    • Rolf []

                      And who is running the World Bank for a starter. What value does that give the information. Most of China is mountainous, and there is plenty of water, but on occasions and in small area there may not be the case and water has to be rationed. Same in NZ if if does not rain and the tank goes dry. It has happened to me at many occasions. China also has zillions of streams and rivers, and by number they are clean. Idiot – coming from you it mas be regarded as a compliment. As I said, come and find out for yourself.

                    • McFlock

                      So it’s not true, but you provide excuses for it being true?

                      And only the fiendish US front-organisations bother to collect that data, you are incapable of providing a link to any reputable source yourself?

                      I repeat: the only evidence you have pointed out or appealed to is that which you have directly chosen to see with your own eyes. International data on crime rates, water supplies, sanitation supplies and examples of ostentatious spending by Chinese billionaires are all fiendish western conspiracies and/or exceptions to a rule that you have no evidence to support.

                      Unless you have travelled every inch of China and documented their water supplies with each step, your anecdata is worthless.

                    • Rolf []

                      No – went to look myself and find out myself, and discovered all the lies and deceit.

                    • McFlock

                      and you still can’t link to it for the rest of us.
                      🙄

                    • Rolf []

                      Link to what. This is not from some silly web page, it is personal observation on location over many years. If you can come up with a way to link to my brain and eyes, let me know. In the meantime you and the “rest of us” just have to live with live reporting. I just don’t know about any other “linking”.

                    • McFlock

                      oh, in a several-thousand-year-old bureaucracy, there’s always someone who counts whatever it may be and publishes it. It’s the bureaucratic parallel to rule 34.

                    • Rolf []

                      Of course there are plenty of bureaucrats who counts and publish, we got a few examples in this thread, especially those who aim to deceive and mislead, and brainwash. Ever heard of “lies, damn lies, and statistics”, that is why I trust my own eyes more than statistics published on the web.

                    • McFlock

                      And that’s why you can travel the world and still not see anything outside of your own preconceptions.

                    • Rolf []

                      And you would know of course. Just like that guy who who stated he had extensive international experience, he had been to Sydney twice.

                    • McFlock

                      which guy was that?
                      Another anecdote that conveniently happens to fit an argument that literally no evidence on the planet (other than your personal opinion) supports? Amazing…

                    • Rolf []

                      You’re repeating yourself, the circular arguments getting a bit boring.

                    • McFlock

                      ok, just for the last time: we should take your word about your personal experience re:water supply thoughout China and throughout NZ, as well as your personal experience of the CVs of taxi drivers in cities across the planet, as the truth. And that you are more correct than literally every other source of information on the planet?

                      Yeah, fuck off.

                      You don’t trust openly-published data sources? I don’t trust any jerk on the interwebz who thinks he’s right and everyone else is wrong. I’ll take WHO reports over an internet know-it-all who thinks he can read the matrix.

                    • Rolf []

                      You don’t have to take anything for it, but I suggest you start getting a bit of experience and knowledge on your own. Go an take a look yourself. Your only remain statement says it all “F-off”.

                    • McFlock

                      trouble with that idea is that the next thing you’ll say is “no, this region” or “oh, that city’s much safer”. Again, with nothing to base it on than the eyes of someone who sticks to the best parts of town.

                    • Rolf []

                      Again, you don’t like it, go and find out yourself. I hardly ever stay in “the best part of town”. I really like the old parts.

                    • McFlock

                      it’s not a case of “like”.
                      I just don’t believe a word of it, and you have nothing to support your position.

                    • Rolf []

                      Just feel free to “don’t believe it” then. I have hundreds of thousands of photos and numerous articles written over the years, but I just can’t bring them to you here, I don’t have time. Sorry, not in English, but maybe you can enjoy the photos, http://www.kinarummet.v2hd.com/hani.htm about the self governing Hani nation in China on the border to Burma, they appoint their own leaders since nearly 1,000 years back and is known as the “master sculptors of the mountains” – you can see why, Have fun.

                    • McFlock

                      lol you have time enough to repeat tired cliches, just not enough time to provide evidence for them.
                      🙄

      • The lost sheep 9.1.2

        Annual growth since market reform in 1978 9.3%.
        Currently 220 Billionaires, 2,370,000 Millionaires, and an average income of $US5,000 per year. GINI co-efficient 1978 0.16, 2012 0.474

        Nominal is the word McFlock. But some people here still think China is a Socialist success story!

        • Rolf 9.1.2.1

          China is a success because they started to abandon socialism 35 years ago.

        • McFlock 9.1.2.2

          and you can’t link for shit, either.

          • Rolf 9.1.2.2.1

            China is certainly no communist country, but it is not a capitalist country either. I has really gone its own way and done its own thing. The billionaires and millionaires don’t build palaces and jet around in private planes as the Americans do, the more tend to live in 100 Sq m apartments with three bedrooms like everyone else.

          • sirpat 9.1.2.2.2

            you know if you and Rolf put as much effort into society in the real world as you both do here mouthing off you might improve the world…..both of you get a feckin life.

            • McFlock 9.1.2.2.2.1

              Well, we can all always do more.
              But so far I can still look at myself in the mirror each morning.

            • Rolf 9.1.2.2.2.2

              I am actually trying to do just that, but it feels a bit difficult when you have trolls that in every possible way just browse the net, grab any information, and then demand “proof beyond reasonable doubt” that just what they found is correct and everything else is wrong. These people hardly leave the couch in their living room, after all I am on location just trying to convey what is around me and what it is really like. Never mind, you are probably right, I should not feed the trolls.

              • McFlock

                I’m not the one who turns up to a left-wing blog and complains about being “taxed to death”.

                But yeah, if someone makes hyperbolic claims with nothing but anecdata in support, there’s a very reasonable doubt as to their reliability.

    • Macro 9.2

      We know full well that the most pilfering is done by the very wealthy (Apple paid 1% income tax last year to NZ! – bastards! That is pilfering on a massive scale) – that is how they become rich in the first place. So having full disclose of income and tax ensures they don’t pilfer anymore.

      • Rolf 9.2.1

        1% income tax, so let us look at the P&L and the balance sheet. How many dollars was it, and what did they cost New Zealand, and how much tax did all those who got a job pay in tax. 1% almost looks like a charity donation.

          • Rolf 9.2.1.1.1

            Yes, and how much tax was channeled through to the society by the income tax all the employees paid. Lets ask Apple to withdraw from NZ, kiwis can easily order their stuff via the web, and then let us put all those unemployed Apple employees on benefits instead. Doesn’t it sound like a real good old fashion kiwi scheme.

          • Rolf 9.2.1.1.2

            OK, at a second thought, lets implement a tax they cannot escape. Lets charge every tablet, smartphone and computer a $10 tax or fee at passing the border. They can’t get away from that. What will happen, of course, the price to you goes up $10, corporations pay no tax, it is a cost they pass on to you. The right way is to become another Ireland, let those corporation channel everything through NZ and pay tax here for their world wide operation. Kiwi politicians are just to thick to think of it or figure it out.

            • McFlock 9.2.1.1.2.1

              So the cost of supply perfectly determines the equilibrium sale price?

              I think you missed a class there.

              Not to mention the fact that Ireland recently received a massive bailout from the EU.

              • Rolf

                The cost does determine the price, you take the total cost, add the profit you think you can get away with, and you got the sales price, the cost get up $10, the price goes up $10 + $2 to make sure. If you don’t like it, move to communist North Korea. They do it your way.

                • McFlock

                  Do you even know what an equilibrium price is? You know, what I mentioned, not what your avaricious little blinkers thought I wrote.

                  It’s basic economics, after all.

                  See, you might want to sell something for x+$12, but that doesn’t mean anyone will buy it.

                  • Rolf

                    “Not anyone will buy it”, well I guess you are right there, only the ones with not enough brainpower to be sucked in by the hype will buy it. equilibrium works fine when it is about commodities and when hype and politics do not interfere, but that is not the case here. You slap extra costs on all products, and all of them will slap it on the customer, as GST.

                    • McFlock

                      Well, today is Otago Anniversary day: penal rates for employees. Many cafes are shut. Some are open, but with a holiday surcharge. Others are open, no surcharge, and simply weather the increased labour costs for the day.

                      Guess which ones are busiest?

                      Equilibrium in action.

                    • Rolf []

                      True, commodity equilibrium in action, but no Apple hype, so it works.

                    • McFlock

                      So your argument is that capitalism fails when marketing becomes involved? A profoun observation, given that marketing is the fan that allows capitalism to breathe…

                    • Rolf []

                      I would rather say that hype marketing is one element of capitalism. Just take a look at the politicians “marketing” of their need for money, or the “marketing” of the “Key Club”, not “mass surveillance” but “bulk collection” not “torture” but “reinforced interrogation”.

                    • McFlock

                      But hype marketing is a product of people needing to sell their wares, i.e. capitalism.

                      Competitive edges are maintained by improved audience reach and identification with the brand that guarantees certain aspects of the product or service. Without marketing there is no transmission of information to potential consumers.

                    • Rolf []

                      What you are saying is really what marketing should be, transmission of information. Unfortunately too much have turned into snake oil sales. Yes – and that is an integral part of capitalism.

                    • McFlock

                      so capitalism is doomed to fail, because its production of hype marketing distorts the marketplace to make rational transactions a minority if not impossible?

                      Interesting thought.

                    • Rolf []

                      I don’t think that is the whole problem, US is broke, EU is broke, Japan is broke, still they spending like the fire was loose. I do think though that many of these scams are contributing.

                    • Colonial Rawshark

                      Those countries are not “broke.” The parasitic financial sector and big banks which have all grown too big and fat are, however.

                    • Rolf []

                      Call it destitute then, both Japan and the USA has borrowed more money than the whole nation can produce in a year, and japan is spending some 40 of income just to pay interest, and they continue to spend.

                    • Colonial Rawshark

                      Nah. Those nations you refer to are currency sovereigns; they can’t go broke. Almost all the money that they have “borrowed”, they have done so in their own currency which they print. So there is never any problem of paying back a loan on time and they will never be subject to bond vigilantes.

                      It’s like you borrowing money on your credit card, but you have a printer in your basement which issues $100 notes. You’re never going to have any difficulty paying your credit card on time, in full.

                      Also, they are not “destitute”, the top 10% of those nations together control hundreds of trillions of dollars of financial assets.

                    • Rolf []

                      Maybe bad choice of words. It is the cash flow that make someone go broke. They also have trillions in debt, and the assets can often not be realized and sold. Nations as US and EU are borrowing to pay the daily expenses today, and they don’t stop, and nations have actually gone broke many times through history,

  9. McFlock 10

    It is worth contemplating that the rich (and those who confuse riches with success) are just as much victims of the alienation caused by capitalism as the poor.

    They might live in physical comfort, but many of them end up in a sort of Gollumesque state of paranoid jealousy, grasping onto their precious and constantly terrified that their fellow human beings will snatch it from them.

    And the thought of a happy society where people are content with a “beemer, boat and batch” (frankly, that’s a bit much, really) fills them with revulsion.

    Rolf might be our little case study of a Gollum, with an abject refusal to acknowledge facts beyond his own immediate (blinkered) perception, but he’s not alone. He sort of illustrates how we create people like Reinhart or the Kochs.

    • Rolf 10.1

      The flight by the capable from NZ and the BBB culture is unfortunately a fact. I may also be an example. I started a company once, and it was a nightmare. I closed it, and refused to take any job with too much pay. It was much better to be Mr 9-5 average, or a little below that, and play with your hobbies than try to make it when you only feed the tax man and are chased by the bureaucrats and always running the risk of someone spots your money and user the gun or lawyer to get it off you. I never had any BMW or Batch.

      • McFlock 10.1.1

        wel well, you’re just a little bubble of fear, aintcha?

      • Psycho Milt 10.1.2

        The flight by the capable from NZ and the BBB culture is unfortunately a fact. I may also be an example.

        You seem to be mainly an example of someone with a collection of cliches to peddle and no ability to back up your claims with evidence. My workplace in NZ is full of people who are genuinely capable, many of whom have come here from other countries.

        • Rolf 10.1.2.1

          I didn’t say the entire population had fled, just the most capable.

          • McFlock 10.1.2.1.1

            🙄
            And you.

            • Rolf 10.1.2.1.1.1

              I am still running, but of fear. 🙂

              Actually, I tried hard, not a chance on a job, not a chance on getting anything to do to make money, so I ran away. I didn’t make the final choice.

              • McFlock

                Might be NZ. Might just be you.

                • Rolf

                  You may just be right, I don’t fit in, and people flee North Korea, Nazi Germany, Pinochet, IdiAmin, Stalin, etc. I don’t say NZ is as bad, but it is no longer Godzone. It used to be a brilliant country though.

                  • McFlock

                    for fucks sake

                    Emigrating from NZ does not deserve to be in the same paragraph, let alone sentence, as fleeing any of those places. NZ has dicks in charge, but it’s still a fucking awesome place with innovative and adaptable people.

                    • Rolf

                      Kiwis has still not invented anything to get rid of the” dicks in charge” though. They even recently voted them into office. I don’t think there even is a way to impeach and remove “the dicks” from office, and yes I agree otherwise about being innovative, the best seems to pack and leave. That’s being innovative.

                    • McFlock

                      Oh, if they commit a crime punishable by more than 2 years, they go.

                      But you know the thing about democracy – it’s the worst form of government, apart from all the alternatives.

                      You’d be amazed at the quality of people who stay. If you take your blinkers off. Hell, even in little old Dunedin we have some world leaders in various industries and fields – and they pay their taxes.

                    • Rolf []

                      It has been a saga for many years. Is it still so that Wellington has the most and highest qualified taxi drivers in the world. Most of them used to be doctors or engineers. I like democracy, but in NZ it more seems to elect a dictator every three years, and then have no say. It would be much better if we can vote and decide on the issues instead of just the ideology.

                    • McFlock

                      you’re just full of the bullshit cliches…

                    • Rolf []

                      More like personal experiences and personal observations and others experiences, some of them bitter and disturbing. If you run out of arguments, go and take a look for yourself what the world is like outside that little duckpond called NZ. NZ is not all bad, but it certainly count as retarded, bloated, a narcissus of the South Pacific and the Nigeria of the South pacific.

                    • McFlock

                      No, no, I’m sure that you’ve done a complete survey of the world’s water supply as well as examined the work histories of every taxi driver and every city in the world, just so your off-the-cuff cliches that were tired when richard prebble rolled the out will be completely accurate. /sarc

              • Actually, I tried hard, not a chance on a job, not a chance on getting anything to do to make money, so I ran away.

                I’ve twice followed my wife to a foreign country, in both of which my ability to speak a foreign language but not the native one, and my qualifications that weren’t recognised there, were not eagerly sought after by the locals. This does not indicate any problem with the countries involved.

                • Rolf

                  I can get through in several languages, including some funny languages as Japanese, have lived in several countries, and I do translations from written Chinese, and got two native languages, can do simul interpretations two ways, and my skills in other areas has always been accepted, except in just NZ. Another example, I once met an Iraqi doctor in NZ. He was once one of the top surgeons in Iraq, but in NZ it took years to get to practice, and he still ended up as a junior doctor on the bottom rung. I have some real nasty stories about the NZ healthcare, and justice system. I plan to publish them.

                  • Grant

                    I trust you will employ a professional editor as your English usage is abysmal.

                    • Rolf

                      When you write here it goes straight from the thought into the computer, and it becomes like spoken language, but – yes – it is a bit of a mess to be able to use more than one language. Sometimes you don’t even notice which one you use, until someone around you wonders what the hell you are on about. My computer has six languages installed, including Japanese and modern and traditional Chinese (Traditional Chinese is used in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Older people in mainland China also still use it.)

  10. whateva next? 11

    Kidnapping is an industry in Brazil, where rich and poor live in close proximity. As Robert Reich points out in his film, “Inequality for all”, we need to support the middle class, not annihilate them.

    • Rolf 11.1

      Not only in Brazil unfortunately. Just take a look at how politicians in the US has gone after anyone they can reach worldwide for their money, and the fat cats in OECD has done the same. Governments are the only kind of business with unbridled powers that can decide how much the customer is to pay, and just go and take the money at will.

  11. reason 12

    Rolf ….. I don’t mean to Harris you but governments are not a business ……

    And everything you said after that inaccuracy was just as accurate…… I hope thats as clear as British Paints.

    Aside from good ol Rolf the title of this thread gave me a laugh as well…….

    Since when did the rich start referring to taxes as kidnap threats ????

    • Rolf 12.1

      What they are saying is that if you publish our private affairs, you also tell the bad guys where to go and what to point the gun at.

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    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
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    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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