Budget Live

Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, May 26th, 2016 - 84 comments
Categories: class war, economy, national - Tags: , , ,

Live coverage of the budget starts around 2pm. Check out:

Scoop: Budget 2016 – Scoop Full Coverage

Stuff: Budget 2016: Live coverage as Bill English reveals his spending plan

Herald: Bill English delivers 2016 Budget – Live coverage, news updates and analysis

Other links and analysis to be added (by anyone!) as the day progresses.

A first summary here: Budget focuses on social investment, infrastructure

Labour’s summary:

John Key fails middle New Zealand with no fix for housing crisis, more underfunding of health

Posted by Andrew Little on May 26, 2016

Middle New Zealand has again missed out in this year’s Budget with not a single fix for the housing crisis, and health and education woefully underfunded again, Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little says.

“This Budget is just a patchwork of ad hocery, a piecemeal package of measures that won’t fix even one of the major problems facing New Zealand, including an out of control housing crisis which the Government wilfully denies. It lacks vision and shows that after eight years in power, National has lost touch.

“What was needed today was a clear plan to build thousands of affordable homes, lift wages and fix our creaking public services. Instead we have a Government still focused on those at the top while most New Zealand families miss out.

“This Budget leaves offshore speculators running rampant in our housing market. The Government’s only response to kids sleeping in cars and a generation shut out of home ownership is a reheat of last year’s failed attempt to free up Crown land in Auckland.

“Nick Smith’s plan failed last year. It will fail again.

“Our health service has suffered from $1.7 billion of cuts over the past six years. Yet today’s announcement is $50 million a year short of what’s needed just to keep up with population growth and inflation. We are again going backwards in health and there will be even fewer specialist appointments and operations.

“Education fares no better. This Budget fails to reverse the $150 per pupil school funding which was cut last year. Parents will again have to pick up the additional costs.

“While the Government talks about growth, they ignore the thousands of Kiwis out of work. By the next election, there will be 45,000 more unemployed New Zealanders than when they took office.

“A Labour Budget would have taken decisive action on housing, boosted funding for health and education, and invested in growth for middle New Zealand.

“What we have instead is a Budget that will fix nothing, help only the few at the top and leave middle New Zealand worse off than before,” Andrew Little says.

https://twitter.com/PhilTwyford/status/735653550705934336

https://twitter.com/grantrobertson1/status/735655466785607682

https://twitter.com/keith_ng/status/735669522703622145

https://twitter.com/FairnessNZ/status/735668063815667713

84 comments on “Budget Live ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. mickysavage 1
    26 May 2016 at 2:18 pm

    Big dump of information now out.

    You can access the Ministerial releases at https://www.beehive.govt.nz/ and the Treasury has a pile of papers at http://www.budget.govt.nz/index.htm

    Initial impressions are that the roll out is slick but most of the “new spend” seems to be operational increases caused by population increases or organisational changes.

    • Enough is Enough 1.1
      26 May 2016 at 3:03 pm

      English’s eighth budget which just like every other one transfers wealth from the poor to the rich.

      This one does not even attempt to hide that fact.

      Essentially he is saying we want more poor living in cars so that his rich mates can build another palace or buy another super yacht.

      This budget is a national disgrace!!!!!

  2. te reo putake 2
    26 May 2016 at 2:27 pm

    $200 million for 750 houses. So that’s quarter of a million per house. I thought half a million was the going rate for ‘affordable’ houses? What changed?

    • dukeofurl 2.1
      26 May 2016 at 3:53 pm

      Doesnt seem to account for cost of land, or maybe they just pulled the number 750 out of thin air, wouldnt suprise me.

    • Bob 2.2
      26 May 2016 at 3:56 pm

      You can build a house quite easily for $250k, it’s the land that’s expensive: http://www.a1homes.co.nz/plans/4/BH84

      If they are building on Government land that actually sounds quite high..

      • dukeofurl 2.2.1
        26 May 2016 at 4:18 pm

        Even on government land, the owners have to be paid.

        NZTA land in MT Albert for housing, Ministry Housing have to pay market rate to NZTA.

      • dukeofurl 2.2.2
        26 May 2016 at 4:26 pm

        That price is not realistic because doesnt cover foundations, driveways etc. Nor council fee charges.
        Cost to hookup to power supply network $10k, cost to connect to water sewerage network $12k ( those costs are just network charge for new user)

        Likely to have higher labour charges in Auckland, unless it is for Auckland

        • dukeofurl 2.2.2.1
          26 May 2016 at 4:29 pm

          eg
          Land area: 704 sqm
          House area: 213 sqm
          Palmerston Nth $535k

        • Bob 2.2.2.2
          27 May 2016 at 12:42 pm

          Foundations ~$10,000
          Driveway ~ $5,000
          House (built including appliances) $173,737
          Land is covered under the separate budget Nick Smith announced

          That leaves $60,000 for council fees and hooking into water, power, phone etc.

          If $60,000 isn’t enough to cover council fees and hooking into existing infrastructure, then I think we have found a big part of the housing issue!

      • srylands 2.2.3
        26 May 2016 at 5:03 pm

        You can build a house for $40,000 excluding land. Order 10,000 of these kit sets from one of the very experienced suppliers.

        http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/alibaba-china-economic-prefabricated-house-for_60160894608.html?spm=a2700.7724838.0.0.RJaQmd&s=p

        • mauī 2.2.3.1
          26 May 2016 at 6:15 pm

          Good luck with getting your house through Council… My guess is that house will fail in most categories they’re checking.

        • Colonial Viper 2.2.3.2
          26 May 2016 at 8:25 pm

          You can build a house for $40,000 excluding land. Order 10,000 of these kit sets from one of the very experienced suppliers.

          Are those warranties worth the paper they are written on?

          • Pat 2.2.3.2.1
            26 May 2016 at 8:35 pm

            you will also note they are kitset so you have substantial additional costs EVEN if they met code…..I would suggest that given almost 6 years of opportunity with the Christchurch rebuild none of these so called cheaper options have come to fruition….that may tell you something.

      • Pat 2.2.4
        26 May 2016 at 7:08 pm

        just built a 3 bedroom 160sqm house in ChCh…pretty standard, group home build….not much change from 400K….250 might get you a very basic 2 bedroom under 100sqm

  3. Paul Campbell 3
    26 May 2016 at 2:28 pm

    grr $300m so more people can spy on us

    • Colonial Viper 3.1
      26 May 2016 at 3:12 pm

      That’s a ridiculous budget increase and shows that the Deep State still gets whatever it wants, whenever it wants, NZ children be damned.

  4. mickysavage 4
    26 May 2016 at 2:32 pm

    No increase in school operations funding aka known as a budget cut.

    • srylands 4.1
      26 May 2016 at 2:52 pm

      Between 2002 and 2015 ‘operations’ [sic] funding for schools increased by 25% in real terms.

      https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/schooling/resourcing/47696

      Teacher salary funding increased by 31% in real terms over the same period.

      By comparison student numbers increased by 3.5% over the same period.

      You still want to hassle about a ‘budget cut’? Your focus on input inflation is pathetic.

      • DoublePlusGood 4.1.1
        26 May 2016 at 3:34 pm

        Pretty clear from those figures that Labour were pumping in the necessary funding while increases have tapered greatly under National.

      • Draco T Bastard 4.1.2
        26 May 2016 at 4:01 pm

        Between 2002 and 2015 ‘operations’ [sic] funding for schools increased by 25% in real terms.

        And they still weren’t properly funded.

      • mickysavage 4.1.3
        26 May 2016 at 4:01 pm

        As is your focus on the increase. The basic spend is still well behind that for comparable countries. And our relative ranking in the world for various subjects is slipping. Hardly room for complacency.

      • dukeofurl 4.1.4
        26 May 2016 at 4:15 pm

        Such is the market for graduates, you didnt think people work for nothing ? In many ways its an international market for teachers not just NZ ( like our other exports)

        School building funding is driven by building costs, cost of land.
        Student numbers dont increase 3.5% over all schools. The hollowing out of provincial NZ sees downsizing of existing schools outside high growth areas.

        Auckland too sees high numbers in new suburbs while falling numbers in older suburbs. ( one of the high costs of ever expanding urban limits, unless you want busing of studenst like they do in country areas.

        • Draco T Bastard 4.1.4.1
          26 May 2016 at 5:28 pm

          unless you want busing of studenst like they do in country areas.

          Considering how many cars jam up my street when schools out busing is probably not a bad idea.

  5. mickysavage 5
    26 May 2016 at 2:39 pm

    Funding for research into climate change cut by $3m pa. WTF?

    • Lanthanide 5.1
      26 May 2016 at 2:41 pm

      National know we’re already fucked, so why bother spending more to get more details on what we already know?

      • Hayden 5.1.1
        26 May 2016 at 3:51 pm

        Nah, John’s got his own predictions, turns out it’s not that bad: http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/pm-doubts-international-climate-change-predictions/

        While Key agrees climate change is an issue, he doubts it will see the world grow five to ten degrees warmer as scientists predict.

        Truly we are blessed with the master of everything.

        • Richard Christie 5.1.1.1
          26 May 2016 at 4:16 pm

          No, he’s a Jack of everything, but master only of deceit.

        • Sabine 5.1.1.2
          26 May 2016 at 5:14 pm

          nah, he is a jack of all trades and master of none.

          • the pigman 5.1.1.2.1
            26 May 2016 at 6:25 pm

            Yeah but that’s just a cliche description of the “Bard” class from many 100s of role-playing games..

            Hmm, John Key.. the Laughing Gnome?

            • greywarshark 5.1.1.2.1.1
              27 May 2016 at 12:39 pm

              the pigman
              You didn’t take us to the link. Here is David Bowie doing his thing being unexpected. The budget wasn’t cute and didn’t have many laughs so here goes.
              (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Oet1pKb0Vo
              The Laughing Gnome

              I was walking down the high street
              When I heard footsteps behind me
              And there was a little old man (hello)
              In scarlet and grey, shuffling away (laughter)
              Well he trotted back to my house
              And he sat beside the telly (oaah..)
              With his tiny hands on his tummy
              Chuckling away, laughing all day (laughter)

              Oh, I ought to report you to the gnome office
              (gnome office)
              Yes
              (hahahahaha)
              Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
              “i’m a laughing gnome and you don’t catch me”
              Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
              i’m a laughing gnome and you can’t catch me”
              Said the laughing gnome

              Well I gave him roasted toadstools and a glass of dandelion wine (burp, pardon)
              Then I put him on a train to eastbourne
              Carried his bag and gave him a fag
              (haven’t you got a light boy? )
              ;here, where do you come from?
              (gnome-man’s land, hahihihi)
              “oh, really?

              In the morning when I woke up
              He was sitting on the edge of my bed
              With his brother whose name was fred
              He’d bought him along to sing me a song
              Right, let’s hear it
              Here, what’s that clicking noise?
              (that’s fred, he’s a “metrognome”, haha)

              (own up, I’m a gnome, ain’t I right, haha)
              ;haven’t you got an ‘ome to go to? ”
              (no, we’re gnomads)
              “didn’t they teach you to get your hair cut at school? you look like a rolling gnome.”
              (no, not at the london school of ecognomics)

              Now they’re staying up the chimney
              And we’re living on caviar and honey (hooray!)
              Cause they’re earning me lots of money
              Writing comedy prose for radio shows
              It’s the-er (what? )
              It’s the gnome service of course
              Songwriters
              DAVID BOWIE
              Published by
              Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.

              And for David Bowie lovers – this link to Uncle Arthur has lots of shots of the Bowie in so many different guises.
              (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2MxWVrVnoY

              And for Uncle lovers, here’s Ben Folds Five with Uncle Walter.
              (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYoB8zHhQuU

              Don’t know if John Key will grow into an Uncle Walter – President?

        • Bill 5.1.1.3
          26 May 2016 at 6:34 pm

          Never heard any scientist predict that AGW would deliver +10 degrees C – not a single one. Not even McPherson (the merchant of doom) makes that claim or even anything close to it. I wonder if the Prime Minister of New Zealand understands the difference between anthropogenic global warming and global warming? I don’t really wonder. I just want him and all of his ilk gone.

          • weka 5.1.1.3.1
            26 May 2016 at 7:33 pm

            This from 3 days ago,

            http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/23/world-could-warm-by-massive-10c-if-all-fossil-fuels-are-burned

            But yeah, on every conceiveable level the need for them to be gone is urgent.

            • Bill 5.1.1.3.1.1
              26 May 2016 at 7:50 pm

              heh Thing is, that was just a straight up, rather academic and unrealistic extrapolation of burning all known fossil fuels. The point is, that wa-aa-y before 10 degrees C, we’d just be experiencing global warming, not anthropogenic global warming. ie – all manner of feedback loops will have kicked in and matters will be well and truly beyond our control.

              • weka …
                26 May 2016 at 7:57 pm

                Not understanding the distinction there.

                • Colonial Viper …
                  27 May 2016 at 12:58 am

                  Exactly. Its like a guy dynamiting a dam. Then claiming the villagers in the valley below drowned from the natural characteristics of water, and not from any man made action that he had taken.

          • Colonial Viper 5.1.1.3.2
            27 May 2016 at 12:53 am

            I’ll link you the section of the 2006 PBS documentary Dimming the Sun where the climate scientists talk about models which show 10 deg C rise by 2100.

      • mauī 5.1.2
        26 May 2016 at 6:07 pm

        Yeah not much point of them getting more research done on stuff they have no intention of listening to.

      • weka 5.1.3
        26 May 2016 at 6:22 pm

        “National know we’re already fucked, so why bother spending more to get more details on what we already know?”

        Are you serious? There is a huge and urgent need to understand what is happening in NZ as a consequence of CC.

        • Lanthanide 5.1.3.1
          27 May 2016 at 9:16 am

          I’m serious that there are some in the National Party who would think that.

    • BevanJS 5.2
      26 May 2016 at 6:01 pm

      That’ll be because the science is settled.

  6. Ad 6
    26 May 2016 at 3:06 pm

    Solid as Business As Usual, but not a 2017 election winner.

  7. Richardrawshark 7
    26 May 2016 at 3:16 pm

    For a party which aim to trim government services, they have over doubled the funding since coming into power from about 2b to 4.4b. WOW. They do talk some shit don’t they.

    Conservation down army up and roading up. Housing looked odd, I don’t know where the Herald Journalist got that graph from but it looked like they had added a lot of budget allocation to public housing, unless that has nothing to do with state housing.

    • RedBaronCV 7.1
      26 May 2016 at 8:24 pm

      Accommodation allowance attached to loans and benefits perhaps? I think that’s getting towards $1b a year into private landlord pockets. Think of that invested in houses!

  8. The Chairman 8
    26 May 2016 at 3:19 pm

    Dairy owners will fear more acts of violence and theft over the Government’s decision to continue increasing the price of tobacco.

    • Tophat 8.1
      26 May 2016 at 4:49 pm

      Simple and quick fix for that is to stop selling them. Diversify your business model so you don’t have to rely on one of our societies biggest pariahs to line your pockets.

      • The Chairman 8.1.1
        26 May 2016 at 5:05 pm

        And risk losing sales (thus returns) to competitors?

        • Tophat 8.1.1.1
          26 May 2016 at 5:13 pm

          if you where really smart your business wouldn’t have to rely on the sales of a product worse for you than heroin.
          Would you now? 😉

          • The Chairman 8.1.1.1.1
            26 May 2016 at 6:45 pm

            Dairies sell many products and a number of them are far from healthy.

            Moreover, some are directly marketed at (and sold to) children.

            In light of that, selling tobacco to adults that choose to smoke isn’t that bad.

          • McFlock 8.1.1.1.2
            27 May 2016 at 1:49 pm

            Worse than heroin?

            lol I’m sure it is, if you tweak the goalposts just right.

    • ianmac 8.2
      26 May 2016 at 5:07 pm

      They could always try not selling tobacco products.

      • weston 8.2.1
        26 May 2016 at 6:31 pm

        yep it could also be made totally illegal too ian i presume you and the rest of the anti smoking brigade will be quite happy once theres yet another black market comodity to police ?? .im currently paying 85 bucks for 50 grams of the stuff im not sure how much its gone up but it must surely be becoming more and more attractive to grow your own or smuggle ? Keep carping on fellas ride that bandwaggon to the end …makes perfect sense /sarc

    • Naki man 8.3
      26 May 2016 at 6:02 pm

      On a more positive note, more people will give up smoking and their families won’t have to watch them die from smoking related illnesses.
      Dairy owners fearful of violent thieves can stop pedaling cancer causing substances.

      • The Chairman 8.3.1
        26 May 2016 at 6:54 pm

        If getting people to give up is the goal, it seems the carrot is more persuasive than the stick.

        http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/79860288/should-we-pay-people-to-stop-smoking

        As for tax increases, while a number will give up, a number won’t. Driving some into fiscal hardship and leading others to cut back on other things. Resulting in less sales (thus returns) for other businesses.

        A number of items sold in dairies could potentially result in cancer. Many of them are marketed at (and sold to) children.

      • Psycho Milt 8.3.2
        27 May 2016 at 2:16 pm

        Dairy owners fearful of violent thieves can stop pedaling cancer causing substances.

        What next? Homeowners fearful of burglars can stop buying nice things?

  9. Sirenia 9
    26 May 2016 at 4:32 pm

    I see there are more cuts to public broadcasting. Naughty people must be punished.

    • TC 9.1
      26 May 2016 at 4:58 pm

      We dont have public broadcasting, RNZ is a soapbox for the likes of hooten and farrar with govt ministers given no real interrogation.

  10. Enough is Enough 10
    26 May 2016 at 4:55 pm

    On the back of these numbers expect schools and hospitals to be closing in the next 12 months

  11. whateva next? 11
    26 May 2016 at 5:20 pm

    I didn’t take a blind bit of notice of all the pre budget hype from National and media, it was always going to be dull, because they are dull. Increase tax on cigarettes? (which will create a black market and increase crime)whoopy do, despite alcohol causing violence and deaths, and lost productivity, but daren’t upset their mates.
    English is the most boring uninspiring politician, so no surprises there.

  12. greywarshark 12
    26 May 2016 at 5:25 pm

    I just turned on the radio and I heard someone think it was Bill English say that the last few weeks have shown us that bad urban planning causes poverty.

    You heard it hear folks. The answer to it all. And the ‘the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything is 42’. Douglas Adams said that. He no doubt meant it ironically. What Bill English meant is that if he says something in a calm and firm voice it will be accepted as truth. You can fool a lot of the people…especially if they go along with the trick.

    • Draco T Bastard 12.1
      26 May 2016 at 5:31 pm

      Things is, sprawl does add to poverty because it costs so much to live so far out from the CBD. Transport costs especially go up.

      Blinglish and the rest of National were probably thinking that we need more sprawl and more cars though. The stuff that makes life more expensive but adds to profits.

      • Pat 12.1.1
        26 May 2016 at 7:14 pm

        ‘Things is, sprawl does add to poverty because it costs so much to live so far out from the CBD. Transport costs especially go up.”

        …not necessarily, plenty of folk have no need or desire to travel to the CBD or if they do it is an infrequent occurrence.

        • Draco T Bastard 12.1.1.1
          26 May 2016 at 7:50 pm

          Generally speaking the further out you live the further you are away from work and play and that costs. Yes, there have been studies on this and, yes, they do show that living out in the burbs costs more than living in the city centres. So much more in fact that the cheaper house prices don’t cover the added costs.

          • Pat 12.1.1.1.1
            26 May 2016 at 8:20 pm

            ” plenty of folk have no need or desire to travel to the CBD”…i.e they don’t work there and seek their entertainment elsewhere…

            • Draco T Bastard 12.1.1.1.1.1
              26 May 2016 at 9:10 pm

              http://www.newurbanism.org/sprawlcosts.html
              http://www.citylab.com/housing/2013/05/quantifying-cost-sprawl/5664/
              http://transportblog.co.nz/2015/08/07/the-future-cost-of-aucklands-sprawl/
              http://environmentaldefence.ca/report/report-the-high-costs-of-spraw/
              http://www.startribune.com/streetscapes-the-true-costs-of-sprawl/330417251/

              I could go on.

              As for seeking entertainment elsewhere: People living out in the burbs either don’t seek entertainment as they can’t afford it or they go into the CBD to find the entertainment there as there simply isn’t any out in the burbs as it’s not commercially viable to provide it.

              Point: Sprawl costs and we simply cannot afford it.

              And, yes, there’s even social costs associated with sprawl measured in social breakdown as we no longer connect with those around us.

              • Pat …
                26 May 2016 at 9:31 pm

                ah I see…yes agree with that…my point was under existing structure it is potentially cheaper to live and work in suburbs if you have no need of the CBD….but as a system yes i agree density and public transport are a far more economical proposition.

              • greywarshark …
                27 May 2016 at 1:01 pm

                I remember seeing a film about a poor village where one person acquired a television and could run it. That’s where all the villagers went, they sat together and watched the one tv and were entranced because they hadn’t become blase’ from all the blandishments of the commercial retail pushers.

                The pubs are already there in the NZ ‘burbs sucking up money. What about bringing back Trusts that would control the number of alcohol outlets, hours, and type of venue. The pubs would be extended to be halls and one half is pub and television and live bands, and the other part be for the rest of the family, community who aren’t into alcohol.

                There would be meeting rooms at the side for the community leaders and workers, and community groups to meet without $50 charge which is the usual here, and in the larger area would be a tv showing general films, or broadcasting the live band or there would be headphones for fans allowing others to see and hear the television. Also a ping-pong table etc, and board games and cards at small tables for groups. A kitchen for tea coffee water, low sugar drinks? It would be fairly simple, a pleasant place for community to come together and there would be controls on drinking in the pub part and on the two spaces respecting each other’s purpose. There could be rooms for those doing extra education, learning new language, practising reading and writing skills, learning critical thinking skills that would help many of us out of self-dug holes, learning art skills in all the forms.

                And there would be a koha, which would be set on raising a certain amount for use and maintenance. That would ensure community buy-in, not taking it for granted as a free gift with no reciprocity expected.

    • mauī 12.2
      26 May 2016 at 6:52 pm

      This is the Government that completely ignored it’s Chief Architect Athfield in Christchurch on transport solutions for the city, and thinks good design is building a life-sucking Conference Centre in the centre city. This is supposed to somehow create a lively inner city… Then it has endorsed a convoluted motorway system in Auckland for decades while the public transport system has been labelled as shit house for just as long. They don’t have any design skills or even any design ideas, they do their best to suffocate them from the get go.

      Oh, and now my old school has been re-built it now, no joke, looks like it was designed by Hitler’s architect Albert Speer. This is supposed to be a place of learning, or maybe it’s to create a class of conformists towing the party line.

      • greywarshark 12.2.1
        27 May 2016 at 1:25 pm

        maui
        I’m interested in the role of conformity playing the major part in lack of political awareness and acceptance of the degraded governments we have had for so long.
        I looked up The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit which was supposed to have arisen out of 1950s USA conformity. There are some similarities.

        The decade of the 1950s will elicit images of malt shops, poodle skirts, Yogi Berra and the Chevrolet Bel Air. What most will glaze over are the real issues America faced like the Space Race, the Red Scare, the Cold War, Hurricane Diane and most insidious of all, sheer conformity.
        Conformity came in many forms during the Age of Consumerism. In America, “their quest for doctrinal orthodoxy also led them to seek for uniformity in high visibility area like personal appearance, language, and personal habits” (Carlson 4).
        Anyone who went against the grain was regarded as a Red, a Post-War counterpart of a modern “terrorist.” J. Edgar Hoover was on the prowl, revoking passports and scrutinizing suspected Commies (Browne and Cottrell 51).
        The media and American cinema reflected those apprehensions. The film adaptation of Sloan Wilson’s The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit is one such movie that reflects the time’s sentiments exactingly.
        https://michaeljworstall.wordpress.com/franticparade/

  13. Tophat 13
    26 May 2016 at 5:32 pm

    taxing cigarettes to make people stop smoking them is akin to having sex for virginity, or war for peace.
    They’ve already created the black market needed to nullify the future banning of them, so why continue to raise the taxes on them? [i] clue, it has nothing to do with health…

    • Naki man 13.1
      26 May 2016 at 6:18 pm

      Tophat
      That is a load of old bollocks, lots of my work colleague’s have given up smoking because of the tax increases. They are not the only ones.

      http://smokefree.org.nz/smoking-its-effects/facts-figures

      • weston 13.1.1
        26 May 2016 at 6:56 pm

        or they gave up because of the holier than thou attitudes of health snobs like you naki the simple fact is increasing your longevity just exposes a person to an ever increasing amount of diseases that can kill you .you think you are helping save the world by riding the anti smoking bandwaggon .mere delusion i.m.h.o.

      • Tophat 13.1.2
        26 May 2016 at 7:05 pm

        people may give them up and site that as a reason. But the numbers were already on their way down before this tax regime was introduced. Your link supports my point. usage was 20% in 2004 down from from 25% in 1996/97 and now @ 17%.
        Simple math would tell you that the tax is not a big driving factor in cessation health is.

        reference= your link.

    • greywarshark 13.2
      27 May 2016 at 12:09 pm

      That’s a good point Tophat. The holier than thou attitudes of cessation of cigarettes types is silly and superior rather than intelligent and proactive for health. Cigarettes have become embedded in our culture, given to troops by government as a diversion from war and perhaps because the smoke smothered the smell of stinking trenches with bits of rotting bodies in them – WW1.

      Now people have been informed they are unhealthy in the long run, but even government doesn’t do anything sensible and necessary for the long run. So again the people who are facing the starkness of life, give themselves a present lift, so they can keep going. Ciggies have been very useful to get a few moments to yourself as the concern for a work-rest balance for workers has dried up. That’s why they will even stand outside in a gale and have a smoke, a break, and a rest from some demanding, boring task for a few minutes.

      Things that are deemed helpful or necessary to a person if costing too much, open the market for lower-priced providers to come in. That is one truism of economics which is obvious and verifiable. Limiting smoking with no advertising on media and no sponsorship of sports or anything, except the clinics dealing with lung diseases, and assistance with housework for emphysema and other cigarette or toxic smoke sufferers would be apposite.

      This morning on the RadioNZ Morning News:
      Hiking the price of cigarettes
      8:31 am today

      There are doubts among smokers and anti-smoking groups alike that hiking the price of cigarettes to 30-dollars a packet will reduce smoking rates.
      http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201802288 2.47

  14. feijoa 14
    26 May 2016 at 6:35 pm

    Bad urban planning???
    Yes, true to form, they blame the councils. It’s always somebody else’s fault.

    I am so sick of the shit these Nacts throw at us.

  15. John 15
    26 May 2016 at 6:49 pm

    Nothing in the budget for Northland. Yet Whangarei National MP says he is a strong voice for Whangarei. Bull dust. We get what we vote for I suppose.

  16. ianmac 16
    26 May 2016 at 7:09 pm

    Campbell at 5 has an interesting discussion on the Budget with 3 clever people. I think it starts at -23 minutes. (After 6pm anyway.)
    Not a plus minus discussion really but what is needed long term – maybe.
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint
    Edit Aha. This is better:
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201802227/airport-ceo,-health-leader-and-economist-look-at-the-budget

  17. The Chairman 17
    26 May 2016 at 7:13 pm

    Winston on the Budget

    https://youtu.be/AOLZbjoUZ48

  18. greywarshark 18
    26 May 2016 at 9:46 pm

    Some imaginative types of spending allocated for in the Budget from The Civilian.
    http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/whats-in-the-2016-budget/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=whats-in-the-2016-budget

    The Civilian
    All the news that’s fit on a page

    Politics
    What’s in the 2016 Budget?
    26/05/2016 at 7:02 pm

    2016budgetstoryTremendous amounts of money.

    $50 million education campaign telling poor people to stop being poor.

    $7 billion to be sent offshore to protect it from tax.

    $1,000 for every homeless person who agrees to go be homeless somewhere else.

    $33,000 for search party to check if Invercargill is still there.

    $1 million to replace all Kyle Lockwood flags in Beehive with actual flag.

    $178.7 million for the SIS and GCSB to do nothing at all don’t worry about it.

  19. millsy 19
    27 May 2016 at 12:38 am

    I’m not at all dissapointed in the budget.

    That’s probably because I didnt expect anything.

    The freeze in school operations grants worry me, among certain other things.