David Cunliffe Speech to 2013 Labour Party Conference – Building a future for all
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2:57 pm, November 2nd, 2013 - 142 comments
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Tags: 2013 Labour
E nga mana o tenei rohe
Ngai Tahu Tatou katoa te whanau o te reipa
Tena koutou katoa
It’s great to be here with you today, with Christchurch’s new Mayor Lianne, our wonderful President Moira, our fantastic candidate for Christchurch East, Poto Williams, and to be part of the Labour team that is going to win the 2014 election.
I acknowledge our New Zealand Council, Te Kaunihera Maori, our affiliates, sector councils and my caucus colleagues.
I want to especially acknowledge our previous leader David Shearer, leadership candidates Grant Robertson and Shane Jones, and my Deputy David Parker.
Mostly, I want to acknowledge you – every member of this, New Zealand’s greatest political party, whose membership has exploded by 75% this year!
We are here with good reason in this great city.
To show our solidarity and determination to help get the rebuild moving. And to return a new Labour MP, Poto Williams, in Christchurch East. Thank you all for being here.
Christchurch, we admire your resilience and your strength.
Your compassion for one another, and your determination to rise above adversity are an inspiration to the rest of the country and to this Party.
We are here today united and ready to win.
Not for ourselves, but for every New Zealander who needs a new beginning and wants their country back.
We need to reimagine the future.
To rebuild it.
To reclaim the Kiwi dream for all New Zealanders.
The New Zealand we will build together is one most Kiwis can today only dream about.
Let me tell you a local story.
There ‘s a small road on the northern outskirts of Christchurch, just beyond the Styx railway over the bridge.
It is called Cunliffe Road.
My grandfather, a railwayman all of his life, and my gran retired there.
They milked a cow; they kept chooks; grew their own veges; and fished for eels in the Styx river at the bottom garden.
Like I did.
The house was a stone’s throw from the railway tracks, tracks on which my father’s family worked and which much of the early history of this country was built – with hard labour, with high hopes and fervent dreams of a more prosperous future.
Portraits of King Dick Seddon and Mickey Savage hung in the kitchen.
I grew up the son of a Vicar.
We didn’t have much, but we never went without.
There was a good state school for me to go to, healthcare when my dad desperately needed it, and opportunities for me to work hard and get ahead.
We have all heard about our current prime minister’s own humble beginnings, his overseas success and his money trader’s fortune.
But in aspiration and core beliefs John Key and I could not be more different.
John Key and his colleagues grew up in same New Zealand I’ve just been talking about.
They personally benefited from these opportunities but now deny them to all but an elite few.
They are pulling the ladder up behind them. – and that’s just wrong.
I got into politics because I believe that all New Zealanders, regardless of background or circumstance, should have the same opportunities.
Only when we all do, will we unlock the boundless potential of this country and its people, creating a better, fairer, more inclusive society that works for all New Zealanders, not just a privileged few.
This weekend, our Party sets out together on a challenging but exciting new path.
The stakes could not be higher: for the very future of this country and all who live in it.
I am enlisting your support and commitment to help this Party return to government in 2014.
Helping to create a fairer, more equitable future for all New Zealanders.
A Tale of two countries I grew up in a New Zealand where if you worked hard and played by the rules anyone could get ahead.
It was a country in which Kiwis could trust that government worked more or less in the interests of all its citizens.
Sadly, those days are gone.
We are confronted by a government clearly ruling in the interests of a few at the expense of the many, and creating two New Zealands.
One for the rich and powerful, who don’t pay their fair share of tax because they have smart accountants to ensure they avoid it.
And there’s the other New Zealand. Where people struggle to put food on the table for their families.
Where children go to school hungry, and senior citizens shiver in their homes.
Families who pay tax on every dollar they earn, pick up the slack for the mega-rich and the foreign corporations who don’t.
Middle New Zealand is working harder than ever.
And what do they have to show for it?
A dying dream.
Middle-income Kiwi families can’t afford the rent or mortgage because of National’s housing crisis; They can’t afford power bills from the profiteering companies National is determined to sell; Many families can’t afford clothes or a treat for the kids, because under National their wages just haven’t kept up.
Now for the first time, a generation of hardworking parents are faced with the shocking prospect their children will do worse than them.
That’s why our best and brightest young people are leaving.
All this did not happen by accident. National deliberately chose this for New Zealand, because they still believe in outdated policies that reinforce privilege.
Some call it “trickle down”.
It’s the idea that if the rich get richer, the poor get lucky.
Such neo-liberal policies are fundamentally outdated and the Global Financial Crisis proved they don’t work.
Top economists around the world are casting aside these outdated theories, but National has not caught up.
Five years ago, John Key told New Zealanders, “wave goodbye to higher taxes, not your loved ones’’.
But he only meant it for the privileged few.
He gave massive tax cuts to the rich that they did not need while he put up GST on everyone.
Since that promise, 200,000 Kiwis have voted no confidence, and left.
We’re told we can’t afford the ‘social goods’ that since the time of Michael Joseph Savage have been our Kiwi heritage.
A good government stands alongside New Zealanders in case of disaster, ill health or bad luck.
Good government in partnership with people helps build industries and regions; dams, railways and ports, and plants vast forests.
Those birth-right assets belong to all New Zealanders.
National – they are not yours to sell! But not content with laissez-faire neoliberalism, National has tilted the playing field even further.
Its Hall of Shame involves those shabby deals with Warner Brothers; Sky City; Rio Tinto and Chorus.
Business people are telling me they want no part of that.
They want a level playing field that’s fair and transparent, not one set of rules for National’s mates and another for everyone else.
They also say John Key is a map without a compass; that National has no strategy for the underlying problems of our economy.
Mark my words, John Key’s answer will be to invite the royal family to bring its newest and cutest member here for a long series of photo ops in an election year.
They should come.
But will John Key dare take the Duke and Duchess back to McGehan Close?
Will he take them to a closed sawmill in Rotorua or a boarded up tannery in Shannon?
You can be sure he’ll bring them to Parliament.
But will they meet the nightshift cleaners he won’t pay a Living Wage?
The contrasts between National and Labour, between their New Zealand and ours, could not be greater.
This government is tired, arrogant and out of touch. It is off-Key and out of tune.
Labour is fresh, energized, true to its founding ideals and full of new ideas.
It is a Party ready to govern on behalf of – and most importantly, alongside – all New Zealanders.
Building a Future for All 3.1
An economy that works for all New Zealanders In the last few weeks my team and I have visited families in Rotorua and Shannon whose lives have been shattered by the closure of their sawmill and their tannery.
They need an economy that works for all New Zealanders.
One that creates more value from every tree we fell, every litre of milk we produce and every fruit we pick.
When National thinks about growth, they think about growing volume.
Milking more cows, digging more mines or drilling more holes.
They haven’t got a fracking clue.
There’s only so many cows we can milk without polluting our waterways.
There is no limit to the ingenuiety of our Kiwi scientisits in making more high value products from the proteins in our milk.
We will reward innovation.
National scrapped Labour’s R&D tax incentive.
So our best and brightest took their ideas offshore.
The journey we need to be on is one from thinking about volume to thinking about creating value.
By contrast, National thinks it makes sense to truck New Zealand logs to a port, ship them to Asia for processing, and then import the timber back here to Christchurch for the rebuild.
How dumb is that?
Our Labour Government will give preference to Kiwi-made timber for the Christchurch rebuild.
When we create value we need more of it to stay in New Zealand so we can share it.
Our economy is being hollowed out because we don’t have enough capital.
Our banking, finance and insurance industries are almost all foreign-owned, which is why we always run an external deficit and build up international debt.
A Labour Government will address this fundamental problem.
By strengthening KiwiSaver.
By building up KiwiBank.
By restarting contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.
All of these things will help build an economy we own.
Of course we will balance the books, as we did every year in the fifth Labour Government.
But that is not enough to turn around long term economic decline.
Our pro-growth will help local Kiwi businesses access the investment they need to thrive.
And today, in this very brave city, I am announcing that Labour will confront the challenges of an insurance industry that is no longer Kiwi-owned.
One we know from painful experience has not met Canterbury’s needs.
Just as KiwiBank gave us a customer-focused, low cost Kiwi-owned bank, KiwiAssure will give everyone a choice for better service, competititive premiums and local ownership that keeps profits here.
KiwiAssure will be a sister company to KiwiBank, within the NZ Post Group.
And like KiwiBank, it will offer customers an alternative and raise the bar across the insurance industry.
We will build an economy that works for all New Zealanders, by helping create more value and keep more of it onshore.
And having kept more wealth in New Zeaaland, that wealth needs to be shared fairly.
The economy we build will provide secure, well-paid jobs. We will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour – immediately.
We will promote a Living Wage.
We will protect vulnerable workers.
We will develop a new employment framework built on mutual respect.
We will scrap the unfair 90-day trials and restore fairness in the workplace.
We will train young Kiwis to rebuild Christchurch.
We won’t give priority to overseas labour which just happens to keep locals out and wages down, We will invest more in our people and their skills and training.
Everyone will contribute their fair share.
We will raise the top tax rate for high earners but not middle income families.
We will target those who speculate on capital gains and avoid tax using trusts.
We want a level playing field.
National wants special deals for its mates.
National gave $30 million to Rio Tinto to keep the smelter’s closure off the TV until after the election.
Labour will have a plan for an energy-rich Southland beyond the smelter.
National bent the rules to sell our laws to Sky City.
Labour will regulate to address gambling harm.
National is about to hand over $400 million of your dollars to Chorus.
Labour will deliver faster, cheaper braodband without subsidising foreign telcos.
So Labour’s economic plan means creating more value, retaining more value onshore and sharing more value across our community.
A fair and just society
That’s because Labour believes in a fair and just society where all citizens live in dignity.
• Warm in their homes through a Labour power policy that stops profiteering on electricity;
• Secure because when the worst happens there’s a safety net to catch them and give them a hand up;
• Safe with a world class health system that promotes wellness.
• Secure with Super that means they won’t be living in poverty when they’re old.
A fair society means having a shot at the Kiwi dream, incluiding home ownership.
That’s a dream increasingly out of reach for a great many of our young men and woman beaten down by stagnant wages and skyrocketing house prices.
Labour will build 100,000 affordable homes over over ten years.
We will help first home buyers, not punish them with harsh lending rules.
And unlike National, we won’t let offshore speculators rort our housing market.
A just society gives a great start in life for all our kids.
Labour will extend Paid Parental Leave to 26 weeks.
We won’t tolerate child poverty.
We won’t let kids go to school hungry.
We will scrap the National standards, there will be no charter schools.
Instead we will build on New Zealand’s first calss public education system, that is led by some of the best educators in the entire world.
An environment we protect
Like so many Kiwis, I love our natural environment.
Last weekend I tramped the Routeburn track with my son (until snow turned us back).
As a kid I fished for salmon and trout in Canterbury’s rivers.
I might not look like a pig hunter, but my dad was and as a kid I loved following him through the bush.
We need to protect our forests and rivers and mountains.
Labour will protect our environment.
We will reverse National’s gutting of the Resource Management Act.
We will rebuild our Conservation Department to protect our world-class conservation estate.
We won’t, for example, build a monorail through a world heritage park.
We are not opposed to responsible mining, but we won’t approve new mines on high value conservation land.
We will insist on best practice environment and cleanup standards before we approve any more deep sea oil drilling.
We recognise climate change is a fact, not a philosophy.
We will restore an effective emissions trading scheme.
We will not walk away from our responsibities to the planet, its climate or future generations.
We want a high value, low carbon, renewable energy, smart, clean tech future.
A nation we can all be proud of
We will will give our children a nation to be proud of, including a principled and independent foreign policy.
Labour calls for an informed debate about the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.
National says it cannot release the negotiating text – that is a cop out.
We expect proper briefings to the public, just as Labour did in government with the China FTA.
While we recognise the potential trade benefits, until there is a full and open debate we are not prepared to sign over a blank cheque on our national sovereignty.
A Labour Government will never spy on our own citizens without a judge’s warrant.
That’s why we will repeal the GCSB Act and replace it with legislation that upholds Kiwis’ rights and freedoms.
We will honour the Treaty of Waitangi, and support the development of a vibrant post settlement Maori renaissance based on mutual respect and partnership.
We will invite New Zealanders to participate in a constitutional conversation to help us towards a mature, stable constitutional form.
We will celebrate our unique identity by supporting our vibrant arts and culture sectors; including a renewed commitment to public broadcasting as one of the most important guardians of our democracy.
Labour will help New Zealanders look to the future with confidence, in who we are, where we stand, where we are going.
Creating the future Our mission is to Build a Future for All, including an economy that works for everyone, a fair and just society, an environment we protect, and a nation we can be proud of.
Our Party, alongside all New Zealanders, can deliver this vision together.
But first we must win the election in 2014.
I know we can win; my colleagues in caucus know it.
We need you to know it and believe in it too.
Let’s build on the momentum we have gained.
Here’s what we have to do, caucus and members and supporters, acting as one.
We have to organize.
Last election, nearly a million New Zealanders didn’t vote and we didn’t inspire them enough to do so.
With one quarter of that missing million, National’s days in government are over. Some of them are in Labour’s heartland.
They’ve voted for us in the past. We need to persuade them that we will make a real, positive difference in their lives.
Many of the missing million are in the regions.
We’re going to crisscross this country until every town knows we are on their side.
We must listen to young people, because everything we do is ultimately for them.
Each of you has the power to help us reach the missing million.
They are your neighbours, your co-workers, your friends.
Talk about our Labour vision.
Every phone call you make, every piece of mail you deliver, finds us more new supporters.
With our caucus , our members and our supporters working together we are unstoppable.
Summary
So together, we are on a mission to win the 2014 election.
We are ambitious, not for ourselves, but to serve the people of New Zealand.
Together, we will build a future for the children in this country who live in poverty, who go to school with empty stomachs, whose parents can’t afford to take them to the doctor when they are ill, who contract Third-World diseases through overcrowding in sub- standard housing.
We will build a future for the young people who leave school directionless without support, guidance or prospects.
We will build a future with our young people who come out of university with huge loans, fight their way into poorly paid jobs., and who can’t afford to buy a home of their own.
We will build a future with our businesses and exporters held back by the inflexible Reserve Bank Act that sets inflation as its primary target while ignoring the devastating effects of a high exchange rate.
We will build a future with our scientists who, are forced to look overseas for meaningful work.
We will build a future with our public servants – our wonderful policewomen and men, our teachers, our nurses and doctors – whose work and worth has been so undermined and demoralized by this destructive Government.
We will build a future with our artists, authors, musicians and performers – who help us to understand not only where we stand in the world, but to feel comfortable in our own skins – and proud of who we are.
Creative, diverse, compassionate, innovative, generous, determined people happy at home in Aotearoa but punching well above our weight on whatever world stage we appear.
Together, we will build a future for all New Zealanders, with an economy that works for all of us, a fair and just society, an environment we protect, and a nation we can all be proud of.
We are a Party on the march.
We are a winning team.
We have an important job to do for all New Zealanders.
We must work.
We must win.
And we must serve.
I ask you now to join with me in becoming the Sixth Labour Government.
Thank you.
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The divisive Treaty Principles Bill is not just a risk for the National Party, it’s a risk to civil order and unity, warns a National Party grandee. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on ...4 days ago - A clearer network for the City Rail Link?
This post was originally published on Linked In by Nicolas Reid. It is republished here with permission. Auckland is now just a year or so away from having the keystone of its urban rail network complete. As I wrote about here, the City Rail Link will be a literal game changer for ...4 days ago
- National’s support base is wobbling
If ACT leader David Seymour intended the Treaty Principles Bill to drive a wedge into National’s support base, he may well already be succeeding. By midnight on Thursday after the Maori Party haka in Parliament, National MPs were being deluged with emails and messages from their members calling them out ...5 days ago
- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #46
A listing of 33 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, November 10, 2024 thru Sat, November 16, 2024. Story of the week Our Story of the Week is completely "meta" (no, not that Meta). It's about our exploring how ...5 days ago
- Grifter Eftpos Tamaki at it again
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Self-appointed “Bishop” and proto-fascist, Brian Tamaki was at it again on 16 November, blocking Auckland’s southern motorway, SH1.This time, the target of his ire wasn’t the Civil Unions Act; covid lock-downs; mask mandates; or ...5 days ago - Rip up a bill, lead a haka are words to live by
I cannot stop grabbing people by the lapels, or shoulders, or similar, and raving at them about the tiny miracles in my ears.I can hear again! There could not be a more satisfied customer in all the world.In a noisy cafe I am even catching words that Karren cannot, she ...6 days ago - Unintended Consequences
Take the baitYou pay the priceIt's much too lateFor good adviceYou know and I know that our good things' throughBecause there's consequences for what we doConsequences for me and youWriters: Kevin Robert Hayes, David Nagier, Bonnie Adele Hayes.Fallout from the first readingOne News began last night by saying that tens ...6 days ago - Thank you, driver!
Today, Saturday 16th of November, is Auckland Transport’s Bus Driver Appreciation Day! Saturday 16 November marks the third annual Auckland Transport (AT) ‘Bus Driver Appreciation Day’, and this year we are encouraging all of New Zealand to thank their driver or let the bus go first if you are in ...6 days ago
- Totally Normal: Holiday Edition
Hi,If I was to accurately sum up my mental state over the week, I’d just say that I got a huge fright from my own shadow.I’d nipped out for an 11pm neighborhood stroll, just to calm down after a day of stress and screens. The Cure and Fazerdaze’s new record ...7 days ago - We Are Not Listening
The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
1 week ago - More lawlessness from National
On Tuesday, sick of government stonewalling, the Waitangi Tribunal issued a rare court order, ordering the Minister of Health to release unredacted documents within 48 hours showing its reasoning for disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority. The government's response to the lawful order of a court? Yeah, ...1 week ago
- National’s tyrannical “foreign interference” law
Yesterday, under cover the the biggest political fight of the year, National quietly - covertly, even - introduced anti-foreign interference legislation. The bill is the product of a years-long work-program aimed at countering shit like this and this, and there's unquestionably a need to do something to counter foreign states' ...1 week ago
- The Haka Represents The Best Of Us
A few months ago, I was in an audience watching a Haka-Kapa and as I watched children dance and sing and sway and shout and beat, I couldn’t help but think “The Haka represents the best of us.”Yes, yes - there will be a thousand voices that rush forth to ...1 week ago
- Adding up the climate cost
St Mary’s Bay housing left hanging: Climate risk is systemically underestimated in the climate scenarios used by central banks, and a new report warns 10,000 houses are set to become uninsurable in Aotearoa. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in ...1 week ago
- Auckland chafing at Bishop’s housing intensification orders
One of the major problems the Government has in implementing its ‘going for housing growth’ strategy is that it isn’t giving much funding help to councils. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and ...1 week ago - Friday 15 November 2024
The Treaty Principles Bill continues to dominate political news, with it passing its first reading in the House. Parliament was briefly suspended and Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke suspended for 24 hours after leading a haka that was joined by opposition MPs and the public in the gallery. Willie ...1 week ago
- Weekly Roundup 15-November-2024
Happy Friday, welcome to another round-up of interesting stories about what’s happening in Auckland and other cities. Feel free to add your links in the comments! This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers ...1 week ago
- Are We The Waiting?
And screamingAre we we are, are we we are the waitingAnd screamingAre we we are, are we we are the waitingForget me nots, second thoughts live in isolationHeads or tails and fairy tales in my mindAre we we are, are we we are the waiting unknownThe rage and love, the ...1 week ago - The Hoon around the week to November 15
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate news, including from COP29 this week; on the US Presidential elections, Israel vs Gaza/Iran/Lebanon, Ukraine/Nato vs Russia/North ...1 week ago
- First Tea and Toast, now Milo — why do NZ’s best beverages need so much defending?
Only two months ago, Nicola Willis had to step in to stop Health New Zealand cutting tea and toast for post-birth parents, and now Lester Levy is riding to the rescue with a welcome message for all: our health workers can once again drink Milo, and will no longer need ...1 week ago - Gordon Campbell on the folly of making apologies in a social vacuum.
Day One of the Treaty Principles Bill…and everyone got what they wanted, and did what they liked. Heated words were exchanged. Culturally appropriate acts of outrage were performed. David Seymour got to play the victim card. Willie Jackson got kicked out of class. A comically red-faced Mr Speaker bellowed “Order, ...1 week ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #46 2024
Open access notables Microbial solutions must be deployed against climate catastrophe, Peixoto et al., Nature Communications [comment]: The climate crisis is escalating. A multitude of microbe-based solutions have been proposed, and these technologies hold great promise and could be deployed along with other climate mitigation strategies. However, these solutions have ...1 week ago
- The PM gets some extremely valuable legal advice for free
You can pay a great deal of money for the services of a KC. So just what would some peerless legal writing from 40 or so of them be worth, do you reckon?Priceless, that’s what. It’s not even the half of it, but this is my favourite part of the ...1 week ago - D-day for the government
The government's Treaty Principles Bill is up for its first reading today - bought forward in a rush in a desperate effort to avoid the hikoi which is currently marching on Wellington. But the Prime Minister won’t be there for it – he’s literally running away to Peru! But he ...1 week ago
- 97% of submissions did not want no-cause evictions, Trump chooses a Russian spy for US Intelligence ...
Good morning, and I’m sorry I’ve been away for a couple of days.I’ve been focusing on the Hikoi, and also testing out sentiment on the Treaty Principles Bill. It’s complicated, and the Treaty Principles Bill will be debated in the House today. The Government’s own lawyers have told them the ...1 week ago - Government must vote down ACT Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to vote down an ACT Party Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights by making it easier for employers to fire workers. Last week ACT MP Laura Trask’s Employment Relations (Termination of Employment by Agreement) Amendment Bill was ...1 week ago
- Seymour causes thousands of unjustified absences by forcing kids to fight for their rights instead o...
The State would like to remind you that they are in control. They manage your employment prospects, and can destroy the job market you and yours rely on by mass-cancelling construction projects, cutting funding, and firing a good chunk of our public servants. They wield the mechanisms that provide scrutiny ...1 week ago - The Weight of the World
As the weight of the world Hangs on your shoulders The weight of the world Starts to take over again And over again All that you once loved, now you hate So slowly relearn how to meditate To have and to hold And never let go Can you feel it ...1 week ago - Thursday 14 November 2024
The Treaty Principles Bill is set to have its First Reading in the House today, as the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti continues. More than 40 KCs have written to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General outlining their “grave concerns” about the substance of the Treaty Principles Bill, while an academic and ...1 week ago
- Release: Government should be transparent on live exports
Targeted consultation on reinstating live cattle exports by sea won’t allow the New Zealand public to have their say. ...11 hours ago - NZ’s global climate rankings plummet as Govt removes agriculture from ETS
The Government has passed legislation to remove agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) while Aotearoa’s reputation on climate action plummets. ...1 day ago - Failed boot camp experiment must end
As legislation to set up boot camps passed its first reading, the Green Party urged the Government to abandon this failed policy experiment for the good of our rangatahi. ...1 day ago
- Gender-affirming care must centre evidence and health needs, not political posturing
The Ministry of Health has today released an evidence brief regarding the use of puberty blockers in gender-affirming healthcare, amid moves by the government to limit access. ...1 day ago
- Release: National doesn’t care about manufacturing
The National Government is walking away from our manufacturing sector with constant reports of closures and job losses. ...1 day ago
- Release: David Parker speech – Piketty, Inequality and Climate Change
David Parker's speech from the University of Auckland's forum on Piketty, Inequality and Climate Change in September 2024. ...1 day ago
- Release: Youth mental wellbeing no longer a priority for Child Poverty Minister
Louise Upston has revealed her diminished vision for vulnerable youth against a backdrop of snubbed advice, scrapped priorities, shifted goal posts and thousands more children projected to fall into poverty. ...1 day ago
- Release: National’s lack of climate action taking NZ backwards
National Government’s backward-looking climate policy has seen New Zealand fall seven places on the Climate Change Performance Index to 41 out of 63 countries measured. ...1 day ago
- Release: Simple reason for drop in emergency housing
When the Government says it has reduced the number of people in emergency housing, what it means is it is stopping people from accessing it in the first place. ...1 day ago
- Govt’s child wellbeing strategy ‘shallow and shameful’
The Government is turning its back on children by not only weakening child poverty reduction targets, but also removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus in their Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. ...1 day ago
- Release: A historic win for Samoan communities
Labour warmly welcomes the Restoring Samoan Citizenship Bill as it passes its third reading, before becoming law. ...1 day ago
- Government plan to reinstate live animal exports a “national disgrace”
The Government has taken a giant step backwards by reinstating live animal exports. ...2 days ago
- Pasifika justice as Member’s Bill passes final reading
Teanau Tuiono’s Member’s Bill, the Citizenship (Western Samoa Restoration) Amendment Bill, has passed its third reading and will become law. ...2 days ago
- Release: Minister of Education thinks New Zealand ends at the Bombay Hills
The Minister of Education has shown complete disregard for rural communities and their school bus routes in Question Time today. ...2 days ago
- Economists sound alarm on Government’s slash-and-burn approach
A group of prominent economists has released an open letter to the Government, raising grave concerns about the far-reaching consequences of its fiscal policy. ...2 days ago
- Release: Smoking numbers up under Costello’s watch
National’s repeal of Labour’s smokefree legislation has taken New Zealand further away from achieving a Smokefree 2025 and a smokefree generation. ...2 days ago
- Release: Call for Palestine recognition by NZ, Australian and Canadian MPs
Parliamentarians from Australia, Canada and New Zealand have written an open letter to their respective Prime Ministers calling on them to recognise Palestine. ...2 days ago
- Justice Select Committee opens floor for Treaty Principles submissions
Today, the Justice Select Committee has decided to officially open submissions for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Power of the people on full display as hīkoi approaches Parliament
Today, Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived in Wellington, with thousands gathering to march in unity against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Hypocrisy as Te Whatu Ora contractor bill balloons
Te Whatu Ora’s bill for contracting and consulting staff has ballooned by nearly 20 percent under the National Government, breaking a promise they made during the election campaign to cut contractors. ...4 days ago
- Release: Growing pressure to scrap Section 7AA Repeal Bill
The newly released Section 7AA Repeal Bill's select committee report is further evidence that the Government should scrap it. ...5 days ago
- Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope
The Green Party is voicing serious concerns over the Government’s proposal to charge for access to public conservation land, released today. ...1 week ago
- Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...1 week ago
- Stand Up for Te Tiriti
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It forms the basis of the relationship between Māori and the Crown – and the Aotearoa New Zealand we live in today. ...1 week ago
- Release: Over 15,000 sign Labour’s open letter to Luxon
As the hīkoi to Parliament continues, Labour has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in a last-ditch attempt to get him to kill the Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Fast Track Bill threatens environment, climate and reputation
The fast-track legislation passing its second reading in Parliament is another step towards environmental ruin. ...1 week ago
- Greens join King’s Counsel in calling for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned
The Prime Minister must answer the call from a group of senior lawyers of the King’s Counsel to abandon the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors
...1 week ago
- Release: Labour formally apologises to state and faith-based care survivors
Labour joins with the Government in unreservedly apologising for the abuse, neglect and trauma including torture in state and faith-based care and for ignoring the voices of survivors for too long. ...1 week ago
- Green Party stands in support of survivors of abuse in care
Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...1 week ago
- Green Party calls for conscience vote on Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt move to exclude journalist risks chilling effect
The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...2 weeks ago
- Without action, an apology will be empty air
For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Concerns remain over tobacco interference
Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...2 weeks ago
- Urgent wake-up call on climate
The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice indicates Aotearoa needs to be stepping up on climate action. ...2 weeks ago
- Green MP’s Meme-ber’s Bill set to save the world
Break out the punchlines and dust off your meme folder: Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter’s Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill was pulled from the Ballot yesterday. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
- Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ must pursue independent foreign policy
The Green Party says the need is greater than ever for Aotearoa New Zealand to pursue an independent foreign policy. ...2 weeks ago
- Child Protection Investigation Unit established
A new Child Protection Investigation Unit is being established to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children in care, Minister for Children Karen Chhour says. “The report released by the Royal Commission into abuse in state care shows us all the risk of not acting immediately when there are serious ...6 hours ago - Speech at United States Business Summit 2024
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Ka mihi ki te mana whenua ko Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. Kia ora and good morning everyone. Thank you Fran and Simon for inviting me here today, and importantly your leadership of this forum over several years now. I want to acknowledge David Gehrenbeck, Deputy ...6 hours ago
- Record number of submissions received on granny flat proposal
Nearly 2,000 submissions have been received on the Government’s proposals aimed at making it easier to build a granny flat of up to 60 square metres without a resource or building consent, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk say. “This is the highest number ...8 hours ago
- District Court Judge appointed
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Rebecca Guthrie as a District Court Judge. Judge Guthrie was admitted to the bar in 1997 following her graduation from the University of Canterbury in 1996 (LLB, BA). She commenced her legal career in Hastings in 1997 before moving to London in ...8 hours ago
- Appointments strengthen Predator Free 2050
The latest Predator Free 2050 Board appointments will help to strengthen biodiversity efforts across Aotearoa New Zealand, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. Mr Potaka today announced two appointments to the Board of Directors of Predator Free 2050 Limited, a key player in the wider Predator Free 2050 Programme. “The Predator ...10 hours ago
- New facility in Christchurch will improve the lives of young New Zealanders
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey today opened Kahurangi, an innovative and much-needed facility for Canterbury’s Child, Adolescent, and Family Mental Health Services. “The new state of the art outpatient facility opened today will be a gamechanger for the way mental health is delivered for young people in Canterbury,” says Mr ...10 hours ago
- Driver safety screens to be installed on Auckland buses
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed news from the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) that bus driver protection screens will be installed across Auckland’s bus fleet by 2026.“The Government is committed to improving the safety of working environments for bus drivers, and Budget 2024 allocated $15 million of Crown funding over ...10 hours ago
- Government action provides Southland farmers more time to meet plan requirements
The Government is taking action to ensure Southland farmers and growers are not affected by unreasonable regional farm plan deadlines, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard say.“Cabinet has agreed to provide more time for farmers and growers to comply with regional rules ...1 day ago
- Bill reaffirms Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending
The Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Bill had its first reading at Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending, Minister for Children Karen Chhour says. “In recent years we have seen an unacceptable spike in youth offending. “This Bill makes ...1 day ago
- Critical milestones for earthquake buildings review
Fairer, more sensible rules about managing earthquake risks are a step closer with the passing of legislation and the appointment of an independent chair to provide expert advice, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The Government is committed to reinvigorating our cities and regions to support economic growth, ...1 day ago
- State of the art radiology machine for Auckland
People in Northland and Auckland will benefit from a new machine for cancer treatment installed at the Regional Cancer and Blood Service at Auckland City Hospital. The MV5 linear accelerator, or LINAC machine, officially opened today targets cancer tumours with pinpoint accuracy. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says this new, ...1 day ago
- Foreign Minister to visit Europe
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Europe for high-level talks with France, Germany and the United Kingdom next week. "Since taking office almost a year ago, the Coalition Government has emphasised the importance we place on New Zealand's traditional and likeminded diplomatic and ...1 day ago
- First arrests made under gang patch ban
Police have made their first arrests under the new gang patch legislation, with two gang members arrested, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “Just before 11 this morning, Police in Wairoa apprehended a gang member for wearing a patch to the supermarket. He has been arrested and will now face enforcement ...1 day ago
- Better support for victims of sexual violence
The Government is proposing two major changes to name suppression laws that will put the views of victims of sexual violence first, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “We are committed to restoring law and order and these two proposed changes will help ensure the victims of crime are put at ...1 day ago
- Government moving forward with Regional Deals
Cabinet has agreed to invite all regions to submit proposals for Regional Deals between central and local government that drive economic growth and deliver the infrastructure our country needs, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop say. Inviting all regions to propose a Regional Deal that boosts ...1 day ago
- MSA pilot participant update
One of the ten young men selected to participate in the Military-Style Academy Pilot has allegedly reoffended. Children’s Minister Karen Chhour is disappointed but says it would be naïve to think that none of these young men would reoffend. “I’m saddened that this young person has not taken this opportunity ...1 day ago
- Fighting for Kiwis in Trade
Delivered at Auckland Trade and Economic Policy School Good morning and thank you Deputy Vice Chancellor Lithander for your warm welcome and for inviting me to open Auckland Trade and Economic Policy School today. A Special thanks to the University of Auckland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and ...1 day ago
- Attendance rates increase, again
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that school attendance is continuing to rise. In Term 3 of 2024 51.3 per cent of students attended school regularly, an increase of 5.3 percentage points from 46 per cent in Term 3 of 2023. “This Government has prioritised student attendance and it is ...1 day ago
- Improving the lives of young New Zealanders
Ensuring New Zealand is the best place in the world for children and young people is the vision at the heart of the Government’s new Child and Youth Strategy, Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston says. “Childhood represents a huge opportunity to set people on a positive path towards living ...2 days ago
- Government continues work to reinstate livestock exports by sea
The Government is reinstating the trade of livestock exports by sea while ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare, says Associate Minister of Agriculture Andrew Hoggard.“The Government will introduce legislation changes to reinstate the trade, enhance oversight, and strengthen requirements for exporters to identify risks and manage the welfare of ...2 days ago
- Speech to the National Quality Forum 2024
Tēnā koutou katoa – it is a pleasure to be here today. I would like to begin by acknowledging the important leadership role you all play in ensuring a quality health system New Zealanders can trust. There is enormous clinical expertise in this room covering a wide range of disciplines. ...2 days ago
- New Zealand’s COP29 National Statement
Tēnā koutou katoa. Mr President, Excellencies, Delegates. New Zealand, and all nations represented here today, are already dealing with the impacts of climate change. Our households, businesses, and economies are bearing the costs of its effects. The choices we make now will shape the severity of these impacts for generations ...2 days ago
- Latest Quarterly Investment Report released
The Government has released its second Quarterly Investment Report (QIR) which shows substantial work still to be done by agencies to improve investment reporting and meet the Government’s expectations, Infrastructure and Acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “New Zealand has significant infrastructure and investment needs. The Government is determined to get ...2 days ago
- New Zealand supporting loss and damage fund
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced New Zealand will contribute NZ$10 million to the new Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage while at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. “New Zealand is joining the global effort to address the significant challenge of responding to ...2 days ago
- Gang crackdown begins at stroke of midnight
The free ride for gangs is over when the clock strikes midnight tonight, with tough new laws officially coming into effect, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Police Minister Mark Mitchell say. “Gang patches will no longer be able to be worn in public. To earn the right to wear a ...2 days ago
- LGFA increases borrowing capacity to support high growth councils
The Government is welcoming the decision by the Local Government Funding Agency to increase access to financing tools for fast growing councils to support greater investment in critical infrastructure, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says.“Communities across the country are facing an infrastructure deficit and significant population growth is projected in ...3 days ago
- Temporary Traffic Management costs revealed
The Government has revealed that over the past three years, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has spent an eyewatering $786 million of taxpayers’ money on road cones and temporary traffic management (TTM), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“When I became Minister, I was surprised to learn that that NZTA did ...3 days ago
- Jurisdiction of Disputes Tribunal to double
Legislation that will double the financial jurisdiction of the Disputes Tribunal from $30,000 to $60,000 has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith. “We need to improve court timeliness and access to justice so that Kiwis and get on with their lives. Court delays affect everyone, the ...3 days ago
- Protecting New Zealand from foreign interference
Legislation that will specifically criminalise foreign interference and strengthen espionage offences has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “It is normal and appropriate for states to interact and work to influence one another. This encourages cooperation and can have mutually beneficial outcomes. “However, the reality ...3 days ago
- Significant milestone for Canterbury Road of National Significance
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed news that the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board has approved funding towards pre-implementation and early works on the State Highway 1 (SH1) Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass Road of National Significance (RoNS). “Reaching this significant milestone is a reflection of our Government’s ...3 days ago
- Health survey results to help drive change
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says findings from the annual Health Survey highlight the need to continue driving better health outcomes for New Zealanders. The New Zealand Health Survey is an annual snapshot of key metrics measured from July 2023 – July 2024. Findings released this morning include: In 2023/24, ...3 days ago
- Final push needed to get to Smokefree 2025
A renewed effort to get people to quit smoking will build on what has worked to date and target the groups who most need support, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said today. “The latest New Zealand Health Survey results show the daily smoking rate at 6.9 per cent and we ...3 days ago
- New diplomatic appointments
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced four new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign ...3 days ago
- Next steps for Regulatory Standards Bill
Regulation Minister David Seymour has today announced the next steps in the Government’s plan improve the quality of regulation by opening consultation on a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill. “New Zealand's low wages can be blamed on low productivity, and low productivity can be blamed on poor regulation,” says Mr Seymour. ...3 days ago
- Red Tape Tipline goes live
Minister for Regulation David Seymour has today announced that the Ministry for Regulation’s Red Tape Tipline is now live. “We want to hear about your red tape horror stories. From today, New Zealanders will have a say on how they are regulated through an online portal,” says Mr Seymour. The ...3 days ago
- Youth Parliament 2025 announced
The Minister for Youth Matt Doocey has today announced the eleventh Youth Parliament will be taking place in 2025. “Youth Parliament offers a unique youth development opportunity to young people from across New Zealand to experience the political process and learn about how government works,” says Mr Doocey. “The two-day ...4 days ago
- Police stats show promising change
After nearly a year in Government, Kiwis have seen significant change across law and order with promising early results shown across some Police statistics, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “In August 2023, I told New Zealanders that if they had not started to see a change in public safety within ...4 days ago
- Better coordination of anti-scam efforts
With the launch of Fraud Awareness Week, the Government is committing to new coordination efforts across industry and government to combat online scams, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Online financial scams are a growing problem for New Zealand. New data released today shows that Kiwis lost nearly ...4 days ago
- Minister to consider 7AA select committee report
Minister for Children Karen Chhour will consider the recommendations made by the Social Services and Community Committee in its report back to Parliament on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill. “I want to thank the people who made submissions and those who appeared before the committee in ...4 days ago
- Defence Minister to attend ASEAN meeting
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Vientiane, Laos. “We need to take every opportunity to engage with our international partners, given the increasingly unstable geo-political situation,” Ms Collins says. “New Zealand has a long-standing commitment to this ...4 days ago
- ACT’s David Seymour won’t ‘bow down’ to his hapū leaders
They have pleaded with the ACT leader to stop what they say are abusive violations of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. ...3 hours ago - Former political figure who abused teens loses name suppression
However, his name remains under wraps as he has already indicated he will appeal. ...3 hours ago
- Educating young people about social media would be far more effective than a ban – Finland can sh...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Grantham, Lecturer in Communication, Griffith University Shutterstock The federal government’s proposed social media ban for under-16s has sparked widespread debate, affecting millions of young Australians, their families and educators. But will it actually work? While the aim behind this ban ...3 hours ago - Ant stings can be painful. Here’s how to avoid getting stung this summer (and what to do if you do...
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A speech is as much about delivery as content, and judging by the media reaction (and the grumpy righties!) Cunliffe has nailed this one.
Well done, great platform for next year.
Best speech from a Labour Party leader that I have ever heard.
Xox
Talk is cheap, action is what is costly.
I think it was No Right Turn that said the $15 minimum wage is an outdated goal. I agree with this and I think we should be aiming to be on par with Australia’s current minimum wage if we’re serious about retaining Kiwis in NZ:
http://www.fairwork.gov.au/media-centre/latest-news/2013/06/pages/20130603-minimum-wage-increase.aspx
Otherwise a very nice speech.
There has to be a major uplift in voting to get a Labour/Green government even elected to be in a position to be able to implement the “outdated” $15 min.wage let alone the living wage goal of $18.41 per hour.
KiwiAssure sounds good too.
Labour’s policy at the 2011 election was to raise the minimum wage up to $15 gradually. It appears their new policy is to raise it in one lump, probably at the start of 2015.
So for all that it’s now a miserly target, they aren’t going to be tardy about hitting it.
And legislating a fast increase after the initial rise to $15.
I’m not sure whether it passed, but there was a proposal to set the minimum wage to 2/3 of the average wage. Such a policy is what we really should be looking into, rather than setting the minimum wage to dollar values and incrementing it every year (letting governments like National decide not to increase it).
Latest 2013 stats: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/Income/NZIncomeSurvey_HOTPJun13qtr.aspx
Interestingly, the median hourly earnings are $21.58, and 66% of that is $14.24, so $15 is already higher than that.
The average hourly figure (apparently available in the excel spreadsheet only) is $26, so 66% of that would be $17.16.
Also such a policy needs to consider it’s own impacts. If you put the minimum wage up, necessarily you will be increasing the average wage, and by quite a tangible amount, too. That in turn would result in the minimum wage needing to be increased to keep up with the increasing average, rinse, repeat.
Now don’t those stats tell you something! ie the high renemeration of a few pull the mean up substantially while half of the employed earn less than $21.58
Yes, which is why it’s terrible that Key uses “average wage” of ~50k/year as his talking point when saying how much tax cuts or whatever will save people.
To be fair, the median is dragged down by a lot of part timers. I’d like to see a median and average that only looked at full time (35+ hours/week) workers.
To NZ youth…”I found a reason”….( for voting Labour or Green)
Here is to hoping for a great future under a Labour /Green coalition Government 2014!
😎
Heartening to read that.
For KiwiAssure, I would be happy to pledge to be one of the first to sign up. Just as I had with KiwiBank.
It feels like the early 1970s all over again. The Norman Kirk years. It was Norman Kirk who inspired me and many of our most senior Labour politicians to join the Labour Party. Included are Helen Clark, Phil Goff and David Lange. We were young, idealistic and he seemed to be speaking for us. In reality he spoke for everyone just as Cunliffe is doing today.
KiwiAssure? Inspired.
Perfect location to announce new Insurance plan.. given the way Christchurch has been abandoned by the government kowtowing to the interests of private insurance companies, who have screwed the people.
Inspiring speech – much that is excellent – but it’s still about affordable homes for 1st time home buyers.
Great stuff about work, TPP, spying regulations, anti-cronyism, anti-neoliberalism, combating climate change, KiwiAssure, anti-overseas ownership of key enterprises, etc.
But it’s still only the Greens & Mana campaigning for more state houses, and standing strongly for a strengthening of social security.
Frankly I’m quite happy for those areas to be the stronghold of Greens and Mana, since Labour are the bedrock that would form the basis of a left-wing government. If de-emphasizing those policies makes Labour more palatable to centrist voters and lets them get into government, then great.
I truly believe that once the Greens are in the government, they’re going to surprise a lot of people with how competent they are.
Yes. I really want to see what the talented Green MPs can achieve as Ministers in a strong coalition government.
If more people listened or watched parliament – even if its only Question Time – they would know there is some formidable talent in the Green caucus.
Indeed Anne
David Cunliffe gets it. People are looking for security. At the moment it’s a risk even to change jobs if you might end up getting sacked in three months for no reason. Government should be dependable, a bulwark against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Not a vector for the unpredictable.
Btw, how did the delegates respond to Cunliffe’s speech? Were they inspired? The words certainly are uplifting.
It was bloody good. Five or six busloads of activists then went on to help Poto door knock, and we were totally inspired.
Yep. A number of us went out to door knock. I personally felt the urge to do something to improve Labour’s chances.
And the response was really good. In the area I door knocked support was running at about 75%.
Great speech…
This to me is Labour:
“To reclaim the Kiwi dream for all New Zealanders.”
and
“Creative, diverse, compassionate, innovative, generous, determined people happy at home in Aotearoa but punching well above our weight on whatever world stage we appear.”
+1….fantastic speech!…..GO LABOUR and GO Cunliffe..(great NZ grassroots native leader!)
….the next 2014 New Zealand Government for many years….in coalition with the GREENS!…This is the answer to our hopes and dreams
( and maybe Mana and Winston NZFirst as optional extras)
Okay – I didn’t expect an overt statement acknowledging that the Kiwi dream is dead and that it’s time to wake up and get real (resource depletion, AGW…).
But to read statements to the effect that Labour wants to attempt some type of resuscitation … Nope, not for me.
But then, I’m not a New Zealander (never mind a working one) and have never had any inclination or ambition to own a house or to own any 2.5 acres or whatever. So the speech wasn’t even addressed to me or the thousands of other people who live here who aren’t New Zealanders.
But good luck to one and all on that ‘dreaming of the dream’ stuff.
Gower repeating his lie that last year Cunliffe staged a leadership challenge. And repeating his own mythology around Cunliffe’s ambition.
He can’t report on reality as it proves him, and the rest of the RWNJs, wrong and so he makes shit up.
Precisely.
At Cunliffe’s victory celebration after he was elected leader, Gower was wandering around the periphery saying “good party… good party” to anyone who would listen. Those of us standing nearby just stared at him. Nobody bothered to answer…
Yes. An appalling piece on the Conference tonight from Gower – and he was frowning and stumbling over his words – can’t admit his campaign against Cunliffe didn’t work, and he keeps spinning a deeper and deeper hole for himself.
Awful journalism from PG. John Key won’t thank him either for the embarrassing attempt at link….but he’s a bit better than wotsisname ? slater? isn’t he?
On PG at the conference. He seemed to have nothing to report.Was that because nobody would talk to him? I hope so… best to ignore. At least TV1 reported something that happened. Can’t wait for the Paul and Paddy show on 3….not.
One of the points mentioned in The Entrepreneurial State is that such R&D tax credits don’t work. They just become a tax cut with no new R&D happening.
What I’d really like to see is a lot more basic research being done by the government. In some cases it would need to be from basic through to applied. A case in point would be semi-conductor manufacturing.
I hope that he’s talking about a new tax system from the ground up rather than amending the ballsup we presently have as a tax system.
The only way that’s going to happen is re-nationalisation.
Could be interesting, will have to see what he actually means. The present system, with it’s focus on getting a job where there aren’t any, actually keeps people and thus wages down.
And with those we also need 100,000 state homes on top of the ones we have now.
Good.
I like the bit about getting rid of Charter Schools.
Karol- me too…Charter schools – a clear unequivocal warning from Cunliffe to potential investors who see education as just another NZ asset for sale.Charter schools could be seen as dodgy an investment as Kiwis saw through Meridian.
“One of the points mentioned in The Entrepreneurial State is that such R&D tax credits don’t work. They just become a tax cut with no new R&D happening.”
My work was going to be a decent recipient of the tax credits. I’d have expected it would have allowed us to hire 1 or 2 more staff, which would have increased R & D.
Yeah, the research that she cited said that some had been well designed and did, more or less, do what the government had wanted. Most had been badly designed though which resulted in no change to the amount of R&D while the governments involved dished out millions in subsidies.
There’s no way to tell which way the R&D tax credits that Labour put in place was going to go as it got cut too soon to make a statistical analysis. She thinks, and I agree, that it’s much better for the government to directly fund the R&D itself rather than relying on tax credits. Yes, that means the government picking winners but, then, governments around the world have been doing that for centuries and are actually quite good at it especially in the basic research stuff that takes decades to come to fruition which the private sector doesn’t fund at all.
Mr Draco,
I’m with with you on the general approach. However I don’t think a semiconductor fab is a good idea. We’re talking >$1bn for a decent fab, and its not like there is a shortage of capacity globally for semi manufacturing capacity. (The $2bn for fibre-to-the-home is bad enough – and how long and for how much are we going to be shaken down by Chorus for that?) Taiwan has done well in this sphere – Altera and Xilinx get their stuff built at TSMC and UMC, but we really can’t afford the government investment to get a legion of chemists, physicists and process engineers up to scratch (especially considering our lamentable efforts getting secondary school students into science or engineering of any type!) This sort of industry feeds upon a base of skills and capabilities we just don’t have.
I think we have to go for the less embodied (read: capital intensity) stuff. Telogis (100+ engineers), Orion Health, there are currently jobs for thousands of software engineers, and our nascent computer games industry should exceed $50m next year. The sweet spot for us is in transdisciplinary R&D focused on customer value, building on our strengths. We don’t have a major surplus of capital to compete with countries which have invested the tens of billions / hundreds of billions to create semiconductor competitive advantage at the high end of the value chain. What we do have is (i) a pioneering-culture derived can-do attitude (2) a history of attacking cutting-edge non-capital-intensive industries without an appropriate level of nervousness, and (3) an unsophisticated international marketing approach, characteristic of NZ’s management skill weakness, which undermines (1) and (2). So I say pour investment into (3), send the kids to uni to learn the right stuff, and let’s build upon those things we have proven good at.
It’s not just a question of having the capability but also being better at it.
Then we need to build up that capability and not say that we just can’t do it.
Think about it, before anyone had those capabilities they didn’t have them They built them up and they did it through government funding and investment. The first fab plants in the US were built by the government and then made available so that anyone could develop ICs. Doing this broadens the development base and so we get even more ideas put into practical reality.
We need to be doing the same thing.
As long as we keep that sort of defeatist attitude then we will keep losing our best and brightest.
This is outright BS. A few people have those strengths, a few others have different strengths. A society does not specialise. Within itself it has the capabilities and resources needed to maintain itself.
Dear Mr Draco,
I love your can-do attitude. And for sure semiconductor capability was built up through government investment – in the US initially through defence investment, in Japan through industry development investment, and in Korea (gotta spend those US subsidies somewhere.)
My point is really about bang for buck – and I think semi industries aren’t going to deliver the best bang for buck. You label my prescription of non-capital-intensive end-user focused R&D defeatist – but I would argue that (1) if we’re going to invest in industries then we’d better avoid competing against those where our competitors enjoy cheap capital provided by states with very deep pockets (e.g. my Chinese Android tablet has an ‘Allwinner’ brand processor), (2) we need to pick growing industries for investment where the formula has yet to be settled, and innovation can deliver competitive advantage (a better long term return on investment), and (3) we do actually have cultural archetypes for success.
Perhaps a society does not specialise – however our successful innovators draw on common societal characteristics. Angus Tait, Dennis Chapman – a democratic attitude by the founders in the firms of these individuals led to innovation led growth. Bill Buckley – well, his firm manufactures over 80% of the world’s ion implant magnets for the semiconductor industry. Buckley and Tait had the skills and gave it a crack. Chapman had industry leading skills and parlayed this through the Telecom privatisation back in the 80’s to a hundred million dollar company. On Orion Health, they pursued leadership of the health information integration market and are now world leaders.
Diverse industries, but at least in the case of Buckley and Orion Health, they aimed at and succeeded at dominating a global segment. In both cases they succeeded by just being better than the competition, which is easier in a growing market than an established market. Consistent results starting from the 80’s suggest that dominating a segment is much more profitable than just being a small player in a global market.
Don’t get me wrong – I support us getting it together to collectively support industrial growth. My concern is bang for the buck. I reject your claim that it is defeatist to reject an industrial growth strategy consisting of pouring our scarce capital into mature industries that suffer global oversupply of capacity. I think we can do it effectively, but I believe bang for the buck is to be found in attacking emerging industries based on our demonstrated cultural strengths.
Did you know that studies at Canterbury University have developed means to manipulate individual atoms? Throw in the progress that’s happening with 3d printing and semis aren’t something we’re lacking but are, as a matter of fact, leading the bloody way. You won’t be seeing fab plants that cost billions but ones that cost thousands, can easily fit on your table and can produce molecular circuitry.
Are you sure that there’s no “bang for buck” in that?
Contrary to what some think, our pockets are just as deep. We really do have the resources needed in people, materials and skills.
Here’s the thing, in the mid term we won’t be exporting or importing as it will be more expensive than making stuff here for our own use. That’s inevitable as oil gets ever more expensive. Kinda takes the heat of the competition off and lets us think about how we’re going to maintain a high-tech society by ourselves.
The biggest problem I see for our innovators is that the majority of them aren’t supported because a few people grab all the wealth for themselves. We really, really, can’t afford the rich.
We’ve had this discussion before DTB, And its a stupid idea for us to ignore what we are already good at, and where the critical capabilities and niches for us actually lie.
I’ve never said to ignore what we already do, only that we need to expand what we do. That’s why I want to see self-drive buses and trains. Once we have those we can move thousands of people into training to produce something else. Expand and develop but we also get to kill the growth fairy that’s presently destroying our environment.
Not sure I entirely agree re the R & D tax breaks. Anything has to be better than the NAct picking winners strategy.
It probably needs to be capped, available to to NZ shareholder coys, overseas owned – approach with care, and possibly some clawback depending on the tax regimes around share sales. I’ve seen some of the claims and they came from NZ owned software star up and were fairly modest < $30000. Not the size that picking winners strategies even see.
My work is overseas owned but employs ~150 NZers. R&D tax credits would let us hire another 1 or 2.
Maybe what we need is a resurrected DSIR one department focussed on developing and improving NZ Scientific Research
“I hope that he’s talking about a new tax system from the ground up rather than amending the ballsup we presently have as a tax system.”
Even though I seem to be the only person promoting taxation for business at a gross amount I firmly believe that this would work and be simple and fair to administer. 5% say on gross income for all businesses and a willingness to slowly bring down the employee gross taxation rates to match. Simply solves a whole lot of issues with the current system.
“Seriously though I still think that taxing at gross solves many of the issues around manipulation of the tax system. This would also mean overseas esales could also be taxed at source so companies like iTunes would now pay tax on sales by NZers and rorts like the non-interest but claim interest as an expense one IRD has just ruled on would become irrelevant and pointless.”
“Another good reason to tax businesses at a gross rate. Remove the perverse incentive to have a continuous flow of interest via buying more properties to reduce your tax bill here and elsewhere by offsetting the losses.”
“Here’s an earlier post where it was debated a little more:
http://thestandard.org.nz/tax-take-bullshit/#comment-422506
I’d like to find a figure for the total gross (before expenses) income for all businesses to do a rough calculation but can’t find this anywhere. I asked IRD but they didn’t know either.
It would seem to me to be quite simple to simply tax at say 5% of total income across every business in NZ. Every business would be on the same footing tax wise as every other business.”
What a ridiculously conceited little punk is Potty Gower. Like a spoilt school kid………can’t let go.
Watched his spiel on TV3 News. “Last year…….last year…….last year.” So I guess it’s all about him, still.
Then the howler that ShonKey Python’ll be strutting round feeling “flattered” because of “building a future” or equivalent ??? This is mature commentary from TV3’s political editor ?
Pity Potty ain’t got the facility to understand that particular call to arms as a subtle reference to the “brighter future” being but a fraud on ordinary New Zealand.
Haven’t seen the news but it is top on TVNZ, 3rd on the Herald, but at TV3 we’ve got “Unions lay out demands for Labour” and “Pressure on Labour at Conference”, perhaps still playing catch up but the TVNZ story has been up for 2 hours. Second on Stuff.
Not in the top stories on TV3.
up now
Seriously another Kiwi-prefix idea? It might be a good idea, but come on where is the creativity?
Sometimes, in fact most of the time, you don’t need creativity in the name. You just need for it to say what it is. This is one of those times.
I might go and copyright a few other Kiwi-prefix policies. Sadly they’ve already booked the Kiwi assure domain name. I wonder why they went with NZ power instead or Kiwi power?
Yeah, the whole “Kiwi-X” thing is pretty twee.
Also they went with NZ Power because KiwiPower was already registered by some organisation so they couldn’t use it. Otherwise they would’ve.
I guess they’re trying to build on Kiwibank’s strong brand name and recognition. They risk diluting the brands goodwill if they continue to use it on everything.
Yes, people are too stupid to notice the difference between “bank” and “assure”. In related news, ever noticed the huge numbers of people who walk into ANZ branches trying to access their BNZ accounts? Because I haven’t.
They face the opposite dilemma with the insurance wing. NZ Insurance is already taken, so is State Insurance (which was the former government-owned insurance provider). And in terms of banking, NZ Bank would probably be too close to BNZ to be used. I guess they chose “KiwiRail” instead of “NZ Rail” because that was the former name of the railways, and they wanted to differentiate it…
We have:
KiwiBank
KiwiRail
KiwiSaver
Will have:
KiwiAssure
KiwiBuild – at least this is a programme rather than an ongoing entity
They might nationalize McDonalds and then we would have KiwiBurger.
Kiwi Fried Chicken
Well that’s a barn burner.
Can anyone imagine Shearer giving such a speech?
Thought the disco lights were a bit weird. Kinda looked like he was speaking at a high school dance.
He loves the nightlife.
Other than platitudes, the poorest million have been promised:
– cheaper power,
-slightly better labour legislation
-and a living wage (if they can score a job as a government cleaner)
The middle class have been promised:
-a new insurance company to keep their premiums down,
-cheaper, faster broadband,
-more kulcha
-more public service jobs
-R and D incentives
-26 weeks paid parental leave
-less worry about the conservation estate and better tramps
-less likelihood of being spied on (as long as they take no part in protest action of any kind)
-and cheaper power
edit – forgot to mention their kids getting $40,000 off their first, brand spanking new homes to kick-off their rental portfolios
yep, the missing million willing be beating the freaking doors down to sign up with Labour.
Other than platitudes, the poorest million have been promised:
– $15 minimum wage
– A fairer tax system with those at the top paying what they ought
– A policy platform that should help grow small business more than National’s lazy hands-off approach, that will create more jobs
– 26 weeks paid parental leave (because ‘poor’ people have children too, you know).
Very strange list you came up with.
Sorry, forget the sub-living-wage increase.
All the rest on your list have very little to with the lives of the poorest.
Depends where you live. There are poor people living in places like rural Southland where the rivers are now making kids sick from swimming in them. That includes kids from poor families who are probably more dependent on the rivers for food and recreation than the wealthy ones. Ideas like that protecting the environment only serves the well-off is pretty outdated js. I also think that groups like beneficiaries will be most likely to be the next level of those targeted by the surveillance state if it’s not stopped.
Your criticism isn’t without merit though. Sometimes Cunliffe’s vision seems quite stereotypical to me, and I wonder how many people will fall through the holes in that vision. I liked hearing his story about how he grew up, but I don’t believe that the policies he is talking about will restore that NZ to us. What I’m not clear about yet is if they’re being pragmatic but heading in the right direction, or if they’re simply not getting it yet. Like with the GP, who I believe mostly have a deeper understanding of the reality than comes across in their PR-shiny, modern approach to politics, I am willing to give Cunliffe and Labour the benefit of the doubt for now. But keeping an eye out as well.
You seriously think beneficiaries are less likely to be surveilled under Labour than under National?
Depends on what you mean by surveilled in your question.
What I meant, was that I can see a possible future for NZ where the govt uses the kind of surveillance the GCSB allows to spy on beneficiaries for WINZ related issues. Repealing the GCSB etc makes that less likely. Much less. It’s not about now, it’s about the direction NZ could go in from this point on. I would have thought this self-evident, given Paula Bennett’s current approach.
Where Cunliffe says “replace it with legislation that upholds Kiwis’ rights and freedoms” I think there is more likelihood of that being extended to beneficiaries under a L/GP govt than a NACT one.
I still think Labour are far too light on welfare. I’m waiting to see if that’s pragmatic politics, or if Labour are going to leave benes on the scrapheap when they realise that their vision of full employment is not realistic.
I recently had a business card from a fraud investigator who works at ministry of social development left in my mailbox, asking if I knew anything about people who lived in or vehicles parked at a house across the street.
So seems they don’t need GCSB to gather information on investigation targets.
“So seems they don’t need GCSB to gather information on investigation targets.”
You don’t see a difference between how the MSD currently handles fraud cases via investigators, and being able to just look at every phone call, text and email a beneficiary has made and received in the last five years? Really?
Seems like the investigation is going to happen one way or another. Being able to read all communications sounds like it’d be a more efficient way to sort out those who are defrauding the system and those who aren’t.
Not saying I agree with it, mind you.
Go on Weka, you really think that Labour doesn’t KNOW that full employment in a market economy is simply Bullshit, David Parker would snigger up His sleeve at the very notion of full employment,
Look at what National did with benefits, Labour planned it during the Clark years, just how vindictive and victimizing the changes Labour planned were going to be we will never know, but plan it they did,
Look at the abysmal tinkering around the edges of the States housing stock National have been busily doing, Labour planned it, along with the ‘inclusion’ of the ‘social sector’ and with no plan of any sort to increase the number of State houses,
At it’s core the neo-liberal philosophy has the ‘protection of the middle class’, i believe Obama even made reference to ‘protecting that middle class’ in His second inauguration speech,
Do i see Labour stepping away from the neo-liberal template in David Cunliffe’s speech, well no, not unless such a ‘stepping away’ has a benefit for the middle class…
“Go on Weka, you really think that Labour doesn’t KNOW that full employment in a market economy is simply Bullshit”
You misunderstood Bad. I didn’t say it was whether DC believed in full employment or not. I meant it was whether DC would promote full employment as a solution to a bene-hating culture as part of pragmatic politics but still be good to benes, or whether they already intend to leave the benes on the scrap heap once the full-employment bit stops being a useful ploy (although to be fair, has DC actually talked about full-employment? I was being a bit loose with how I described his approach).
You seem sure that the future Cunliffe govt is the same as the Clark govt. I don’t see how you can know that yet.
“Look at what National did with benefits, Labour planned it during the Clark years, just how vindictive and victimizing the changes Labour planned were going to be we will never know, but plan it they did,”
[citation needed]
In my experience, life on a benefit has always been easier under a Labour govt than a NACT one. Labour have done some pretty shit things to be sure, but don’t make out that they are the same as NACT, they’re not.
A fairer tax system, not likely, my income tax will remain the same and i will still be paying the increased GST…
Yes, but increased taxes on the wealthy and traditional tax-avoiders means the government debt can be paid back sooner than otherwise, or that provision of services can be increased.
Since there are many government programmes that can have high rates of return (like home insulation returning $6 in health costs for every $1 spent), the more money that can be spent on those services ultimately reduces the future tax burden, which means less tax rises in the future or potential tax cuts in the future.
Sure, all medium-long term benefits there and largely just hand-waving, but an impact none-the-less.
I feel that your latest comment should be backed with a violin solo, in other words the poorest can keep on paying the most as a % of their income and hope for a few crumbs swept their way at some point in the far far future,
No wonder the million stay home on voting day, they don’t feel like being a part of Labour’s middle class protection racket…
I’m simply replying to your comment where you said “A fairer tax system, not likely”.
It will be *fairer* than it is now. That doesn’t mean it will meet whatever your ideal taxation system is.
So fairer for whom may i ask, beneficiary families, single beneficiaries, nah wait, i got it, all the ‘fairness’ will be accrued by the middle class right,
Labour tax the rich to feed the middle class while keep the boot swinging in the direction of the poor, a truly RED Labour Party…
You forget the biggest one of all. A massive tax break to those wealthy enough to own a family home. The bigger a house you can afford the larger tax break you get. Meanwhile those who can’t afford a home are taxed on their investments. Upper-middle class welfare.
Didn’t even see that one. I guess it’s a form of bean blindness.
What the heck are you smoking, mate?
Bean-blindness.
I take it you’ve never picked beans for a living?
I was hoping you and your cabal would have put a policy remit up eliminating, or at least capping, the “family home” CGT exemption.
Can you explain just a little bit more what you mean?
I’m talking about the exemption of the family home in the capital gains tax. Basically it’s a regressive tax break which favors those who can afford houses, the bigger your house, the bigger your tax break.
Yes, but it’s still a step in the right direction.
That’s a bit of a cop out! How is a regressive taxation scheme a “step in the right direction”?
How is *adding* a capital gains tax that affects those wealthy enough to own multiple houses and shares, but doesn’t affect those who own a family home, regressive?
Because the benefits of those exempted from the tax will disproportionately favour those with greater assets. Specifically,
-Those with houses will get significant portion of their capital gains tax free, those who can’t afford a house will be fully taxed on any capital gains.
-Those with bigger homes get a larger tax break than those with smaller homes.
-The “family home” will be implicitly favoured as investment over all other investments. Doing up the kitchen will be tax free but starting a new business will not be. End result, home improvement become the leading growth sector in the economy.
-Finally how ambiguous is the term “family home” ? In this day and age it’s difficult to define what a family is, let alone what a family home is. Lawyers and accountants will find creative loopholes, benefiting those who can afford their services. (And of course the lawyers and accountants!)
-I’m sure the “family business” exemption will be even more ambiguous.
I’m all for a comprehensive capital gains tax, just get rid of these stupid exemptions.
Next you’ll be saying taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables is regressive.
No, because an exemption to a regressive tax is progressive.
Tamati, it’s misguided – and imo classist – to say “Because the benefits of those exempted from the tax will disproportionately favour those with greater assets.”
Yes there is an obvious urgency for building more State homes, but we must do whatever else we can to discourage the rentier class from buying 2nd, 3rd, 4th… homes. This is the target of the CGT.
I take your point about lawyers and accountants, which is why we must take special care in setting up the CGT so that there are no means of tax avoidance, clever loopholes, trusts etc…
However I strongly disagree with CGT on the family home. And even more so with the argument that you should not exempt CGT on the family home on the grounds that this would “disproportionately favour” those with more valuable assets.
The purpose of exempting CGT on the family home is to ensure people (rich or poor) aren’t unfairly penalised when they have to move.
When you move, you sell your home and then buy another one at the same going market rate. Irrespective of whether your home is worth 200k or 900k, you are already up for the costs of buying/ selling/ mortgage/ removals.
If someone has worked hard all their life and bought a family home over many years, why should they have to pay CGT just because they have to move to another town for work?
For many NZers at whatever level, having a mortgage free family home by retirement is their dream.
Let’s not forget it’s the rentier class who are the target for CGT because their ‘business’ is what pushes up prices and makes homes less available for first buyers. They cynically and/or happily exploit tax breaks for the running costs on their additional properties. Meanwhile government rent assistance for the poor ultimately trickles upwards into the landlords’ pockets
I have no idea why you think that “doing up the kitchen will be tax free”. I haven’t heard anyone say that a CGT exemption on selling your only home will include tax exemption on doing it up.
btw most people want to do up their home to make it a nicer place to live in – and ultimately to add value. What’s wrong with that?!
I’m not sure why you are calling me ‘classist’ for saying I think all investments should be treated equally. I’m currently in the process for saving for a deposit and just think it’s unfair that I’ll be taxed on my investments while those who can afford a home largely will not be. If that is “classism” then guilty as charged.
-Unfortunately taking “special care” when writing the legislation won’t be enough to prevent entirely legal exploitation of this exemption. Tax law is immensely complex, and this just adds another layer of confusion.
-My point is why should we favor houses over other capital investments? I’ve worked hard (but not yet long) and invested my savings in shares. I want to buy a house eventually but don’t yet have enough for a deposit.
-The problem with the exemption is it favors the “upper middle” much more than the “lower middle” and provides precisely nothing to the bottom of the heap. We should be flipping this on it’s head.
-Re-doing the kitchen will absolutely be a tax free investment. Any gains in house value as a result will not be taxed, but backing more productive investments will be taxed. If we want to grow our economy we need people to invest outside housing, this tax system will only encourage it.
-Encouraging people to renovate will only increase the spread of “McMansions”, houses will become more expensive. (I do concede that fewer people owning rentals may offset this.)
-Far better would be have a CGT exemption window that could be accrued over time. You get $10,000 of tax free gain from any source per person per year. This will allow those with modest houses to avoid moderate capital gains when they move.
Finally how ambiguous is the term “family home”
I understand this is actually not that ambiguous at all, since similar definitions are already being applied to Kiwisaver withdrawals.
My understanding is that the Kiwisaver withdrawals apply to the “first home” not the family home.
Actually QoT is correct.
There are two separate aspects of KiwiSaver help for home buyers, which are usually confused together.
1. Deposit subsidy, of $1,000 per person per year when they’ve been contributing to KS for at least 3 years, with a maximum cap of $5k per person. So a couple can get $10k this way.
In order to be eligible for the deposit subsidy there are several extra conditions that must be met, such as the value of the house you are purchasing and your combined taxable income.
2. Fund withdrawal. If you are purchasing your first home, or in a financial situation substantially similar to a person who is purchasing their first home, then you are able to withdraw a good portion of all of your kiwisaver contributions: I believe it is employee + employer + voluntary contributions + returns, but not the government tax subsidy or $1,000 kickstart.
You are able to do both 1 and 2 if you meet the eligibility criteria and conditions. One of the conditions applied to both options is that it must be your principal place of residence and cannot be an investment property. This is relevant for option #2 where if you’re in a “financial situation substantially similar to a person who is purchasing their first home” you can still qualify for the fund withdrawal, even though the house you’re buying isn’t your *first* house. The actual definition of “financial situation substantially…” more or less boils down to the same income-testing as applied to the eligibility criteria for #1.
Lolz you say it better than what i could…
From wiki
Habituation is a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations.[1] As a procedure, habituation is the repeated presentation of an eliciting stimulus that results in the decline of the elicited behavior (the process of habituation). This can be rooted from one becoming accustomed to a stimulus to such an extent, that one is simply less responsive or reactive to the stimulus. This process is gradual and is caused after prolonged exposure to the said stimulus.
After a period of picking beans, which are the same colour as the leaves of the plant, your brain stops “seeing” them. You have keep refocussing your mind which is thorughly sick of looking at beans.
The analogy is that I’m very habituated to Labour’s incessant middle-class bribes. It may mean I miss some. Sorry a bit obtuse.
David and Karen have joined us at a nice restaurant in Merivale. Awesome feeling here. Patrons at the restaurant asking to have photos taken with him.
Please ask him what he intends to do for the poorest million.
There is still time to announce a massive state housing build and the removal of gst.
Thanks.
i second that…
GST might be regressive but it is a tax in the appropriate place – consumption.
You’ll find very few tax jurisdictions that don’t have some form of consumption tax.
What were you saying about a fairer tax system again, tax the hell out of the poorest as a % of their income and add a couple of cents to the top eaners tax rate and hey presto the poorest pay the same % on their income as the richest do,
Then??? bribe the middle class to vote for you with it…
Adding taxes that apply to high-income earners and those who dodge taxes, while not touching the rest of the tax system, is making it fairer.
Removing GST would also be fairer.
But it is not incorrect to say the tax system will be fairer when it is broadened at the expense of those who should be paying more, and not changed at all for those who are already paying what they should.
Agreed. An implicit tax break for those with mansions in Parnell or Herne Bay would only shift the burden down the ladder.
Except they already have an “implicit tax break” right now, but not just on their mansions, on all of their property.
But that applies universally to all investors. You’re advocating removing this exemption from those too poor to buy their own home.
??
See my other posts. Basically adding a capital gain tax is good, but providing an exemption on the basis of the value of your home is unfair.
The exemption doesn’t apply on the basis of the value of your home. It applies on the basis of it being the home you live in, regardless of the home’s value.
An insurance company, now that’s really really RED, thank god i chucked my membership in long ago,
As just saying has been saying, if it’s socialism, it’s the socialism of ,for, and by the middle class…
TV1 news says it’s almost an identical policy to one NZFirst announced 2 weeks ago.
Yeah i mention that down at (22), might be a radical lurch to the left from an old Tory like Winston, but the flagship announcement at the first conference of the new Leader of Labour, hardly RED looks more washed out pink from here,
Thank god i wasn’t sucked into renewing my membership…
This is the first time I have been able to take the NZLP seriously since 1987, (I gave them the benefit of doubt post 1984).
There is a whiff of Norman Kirk about this guy.
Just hope the FWITS at the conference do not derail everything (again!).
There’s a whiff of something about that guy, and it certainly aint Norm Kirk, the same old platitudes that Slippery trots out and an idea for an insurance company half inched of Winston Peters,
That old Tory Peters coming up with the idea of the state owning an insurance company might be pretty left wing considering where Winston comes from, but pffft…
Dear Dave, after you have finished your fine dinner do you think you could brush a few crumbs our way,
Yours, some sickness Bene’s…
There is a whiff of cetacean lipids coming from you.
Is that so, well there is a hint of a regurgitating rectal vacum about you…
I rest my case.
Except for the insipid attempt at abuse you haven’t made a case…
Go you good thing Cunliffe, love the insurance idea after a 70% increase in the last 2 years.
That was a very good speech indeed by David Cunliffe, truly gripping and inspiring!
I worry a bit about him going a bit over the top, as expectations by some may be a bit disappointed later on. This speech has a totally different tone to that what Cunliffe said in an interview on focus on politics on Radio NZ National today.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/2574908
But as many need to be “excited” out of their slumber of years of mainstream media brainwashing (or “infestation”), that Key is a such a great “golden boy” and has the sun shine out of all kinds of peculiar body parts, I sense there is a justified need to whip up the political “lingo” a bit.
I will nevertheless party vote Greens or even Mana next year, possibly even an electorate candidate from the Greens (if they put one up), simply to keep Labour “in check”, to not forget their social policy heritage and modern, overdue, effective environmental policies that protect this country from yet more senseless exploitation.
I can’t believe I’m going to beat Tat to congratulating Cunliffe on the “fracking clue” line.
… wait, what do you mean it wasn’t a Battlestar reference? 😛
QoT.
You gem.
That speech is a breath of fresh air which gives me hope. As for Patrick Gower – his effort on the 6 pm news was a disgrace. He should be sacked.
That is what Gower is paid to do, get used to it and much more from this so called ‘media’ who are actually mediums for their masters message rather than reporters of fact with intelligent context added.
The more intelligent MSM nactiods are more subtle and normally never push their mug on camera like smellstrong in his granny ivory tower and farrer pushing the lines from behind his website etc.
Time off.
Solid start from the kiwis. Played out their set of six soundly, assuring kick pinning the tories at their own end.
More of the same needed for the rest of this half, particularly from the workmen. Hard hit-ups.
Defence a priority. MUST lead into the break.
Never underestimate Silent Shon, line speed essential in the doorknocking/leafletting area from now until half time (only six more weeks on the clock).
Save razzle-dazzle for the second half: Christmas bonus to compensate for Ruth lass cuts/Special Benefit lunacy will seal it.
Above all, maintain discipline. No room for the slightest swipe. Video ref Paddy Hitler. Keep line at all costs.
And for Christ’s sake, take your Greens.
Now get out there and show them what kiwis are!
No greens, no pudding
House insurance is one of the first things to go, along with the mythical health insurance when you are low income. However just cos the press choose kiwiassure as labours flagship policy doesnt make it so.
A different choice in copy and paste and minimum and living wage could be flagship policies from that speech.
I would have preferred the focus stayed on fairness rather than building…. it was always going to draw a comparison to brighter future…
Xtasy
“will nevertheless party vote Greens or even Mana next year, possibly even an electorate candidate from the Greens (if they put one up), simply to keep Labour “in check”,”
Labour has to win first – I hope voters of your persuasion dont mind another 3 years of NACT because of your wasted votes ….
Where is the wasted vote?
‘wasted vote’ ? what? are they going to drug test for voting too now?
Grunty – NO “wasted” vote at all, it is called smart, strategic voting, for the most likely “natural” government partner that Labour will need.
I am open to vote Labour again, provided they also cover policies that are crucial and very dear to me. I will not bend over for those still partly blinkered and “bene-hating” “centrists” in some vague “middle class”, to give me yet more lashes on my bare bottom, as the convenient “beneficiary whipping boy”!
Sorry to disappoint you, go out and make sure Labour will win then, it is your call, if you wish to take it personally. I am with Labour as leading future government party, but they do from my view need to be kept “honest” and in check, to actually stick to and also honour the nice lingo of a New Zealand for ALL!
Well wasn’t that a grand Labour Party Conference, the new RED Labour, ditcher of neo-liberalism and all that made the grand announcement,
Yes an insurance company, have the heralds blow the trumpets long and loud, send out the message to the lost tribe of voters Labour is here to save them with an insurance company, now that’s what i call a grand vision,
Could it tho, this insurance company, be a cunning signal to NZFirst who came up with the very same policy befor the light went on in David Cunliffe’s cavity,
Then again could it be imagined that as ‘He’ thought up such a stunning strategem, this insurance company, to fire up the activist, turn out the million non-voters, sweep all opposition befor Him, that David Cunliffe had a funny feeling in the back of His mind ‘that He had heard this idea befor’, but, couldn’t quite pin down where it came from, Ghandi perhaps, Nelson Mandela maybe,
They say the best form of flattery is mimicry and Winston Peters must be sitting ome place right now laughing fit to bust over the ‘Labour Party idea’ to have a Government insurance company,
Did anything of any import other than the ‘insurance company’ come out of the Labour Conference, i would love to hear about it if there was, build half a dozen State Houses perhaps,
Child poverty got a mention from Dave, so He knows it exists, maybe there’s no need to seriously address this child poverty after all it aint like it’s killing anyone, is it???…
Softly softly, catchy monkey.
If National win another term all this hope will be wasted – watch the destruction that will follow