Lies damn lies and tax analysis

Written By: - Date published: 1:21 pm, March 2nd, 2019 - 67 comments
Categories: capital gains, Deep stuff, Gerry Brownlee, national, Politics, same old national, spin, Steven Joyce, tax, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

The Government is taking time to consider its response to the Tax Working Group’s proposed capital gains tax.  As it should.  These decisions are not easy ones and potentially government ending ones.

But the hiatus in providing a response had let the opposition say all sorts of stuff.  Much of what has been said is as credible of Stephen Joyce’s claim of a $11.5 billion hole in Labour’s draft budget figures but the claims are being sent far and wide.

Damien Venuto at the Herald has been analysing what has been happening.  Although I disagree with his conclusion that the debate has actually skewered public perception, because there is remarkably strong support for a CGT, he is correct that National and its allies have been attempting to make the debate into something that it is not.

His article says this:

The release the Tax Working Group’s recommendations prompted a rapid flurry of responses from interest groups railing against the proposed capital gains tax.

Business NZ, The Employers and Manufacturers Association, the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce and the Property Investors Federation were just some of the organisations to fire out releases before the ink had even dried on freshly printed copies of the report.

These carefully crafted responses quickly made their way into headlines, skewing the debate sharply in favour of those opposed to a capital gains tax.

In the initial rush for angles and opinions, views in support of the capital gains tax proved difficult to find amid the roaring chorus of “no”.

The lobby groups had ample time to prepare for something that had been strongly hinted at in the preceding months – and wasted no time in striking when those hints came to fruition.

And National has been engaging in US republican style hyperbole in its attempt to denigrate the proposal.

Like this attempt to suggest that ordinary workers with Kiwisaver accounts were going to be hit:

That is a big scary number.

There is this detail on how the figure is calculated on National’s website:

The estimated $64,000 reduction in value assumes a 45-year working life and is based on 15 per cent of a ‘balanced’ KiwiSaver fund being in Australasian shares, which would be taxed on an accrual basis on total annual gains. It also assumes the minimum employer and employee contribution rates.

I presume they have assumed the tax is paid by the provider each year and the rate of return is thereby diminished.

The calculations seem herculean. Year one the account would be worth $4,100. If 15% was invested in shares and there was a 4% return the return would be $24.60. Tax would be a third of this. I appreciate it is accumulated and there is wage inflation but the figure still seems high.

Of course, and I am presuming this because National has not released the details of its calculations, no account has been made for other TWG recommendations which include increased support for Kiwisaver and the suggested reduction to the bottom income tax threshold so that workers do get a tax cut or suggestions that the CGT should be tax neutral.

And I can confidently assert that no allowance is being made for the fact that a CGT will improve Sophie’s chances of buying a house, even in Auckland.

It is really rich that the party that hobbled Kiwisaver contributions and weakened its effectiveness should be complaining about steps that may reduce the value of Kiwisaver accounts.

But you get the picture.

The tactic clearly is to come up with a number and keep repeating it and repeating it and repeating it.

But the way I see it this claim is as credible as Steven Joyce’s $11.5 billion dollar hole or Gerry Brownlees’s clanger of a mistake concerning the cost of income tax bracket shift.

67 comments on “Lies damn lies and tax analysis ”

  1. Tuppence Shrewsbury 1

    If the government isn’t planning on taxing the capital gains a kiwi may achieve with KiwiSaver, why don’t they explicitly exempt KiwiSaver? Like pretty horses were exempted

    • KJT 1.1

      Capital gains in Kiwi saver are already taxed.

      For most people it won’t make any difference.

      Standard right wing tactics.
      1.If all else fails, lie frequently and in unison.
      2. After all “perception is reality”, and “if you repeat something often enough it becomes true”.

      • Tuppence Shrewsbury 1.1.1

        Who is telling lies?

        If mickeys tax gain Calculation is correct, then national is correct and there will be an additional tax on the sale of shares in a KiwiSaver fund. So it’s not the KiwiSaver person being taxed directly, it’s a reduced return to the fund as a result of the tax. Effectively an additional tax.

        It’s not a right wing mentality, it’s understanding the impact of this tax. I’m not against it per se. I’m against it being so high and pretty horses being exempt.

        • Sam 1.1.1.1

          I think the more fluid workforce of today is also a hindrance. Even if we assume that companies don’t play games to avoid paying kiwi saver contributions, the employee who starts working for a company at age 18 and sticks with them until retirement is an increasingly rare breed as people are both willing and able to look for work far from home without necessarily having to pick up and move, hoping there are jobs where you’re going. That’s another advantage to having something like Employer contributions to kiwi saver. I manage my own retirement savings, the pool of money I have is enough I don’t even need any further contributions, regardless of whether or not I work, the initial investment I made just compound and compound. Of course, I can take the money out early (and suffer the tax penalty for doing so) but companies and governments that have done similar things to pension plans increases the age of retirement (or just look at Welfare).

        • KJT 1.1.1.2

          Almost all Kiwi savers are in managed funds.

          Investments, Loke most savings, are liable for CGT, already.

          To claim it will make a difference to the average saver is an outright, lie.

          Even worse then the idea that the “average hard working Kiwi” will be hit hard by capital gains taxes.

          The “average Kiwi” after decades of giving to the rich and taking from the middle and low income, doesn’t get much capital gains.

          • Tuppence Shrewsbury 1.1.1.2.1

            So investment funds won’t pay capital gains when they sell shares at a profit? Because the value of fund increase gets taxed at the end of the year when the fund units tax return is filed? Is this what you are claiming will happen?

            • Sam 1.1.1.2.1.1

              In that case, you’re better off investing in bullets. When you make the elite class the masters of the economy, the economy collapses through being sucked into the elites petty wars and austerity, “petty wars of elite entertainment,” petty shit. Ammunition, on the other hand, will be worth its weight in fresh vegetables.

              • Tuppence Shrewsbury

                What are you talking about?

                Prosperity brings peace. Guessing you’ve just read about che guevera on the Wikipedia?

                • Sam

                  Rather catch cancer than guess what you are guessing.

                  Infrastructure you nub. Infrastructure is prosperity AND human rights.

                • greywarshark

                  Tuppence
                  You are talking hopeful stuff and not facts – prosperity and peace. Nice alliteration though.
                  If you want to present yourself as knowing stuff stick to what you know
                  and give us the facts.

                  You dear old couple having a hug about being so wise and knowing – you and shadrach are funny.

                  • Tuppence Shrewsbury

                    Another unintelligible ramble on this thread. Are you sams parent? Did you teach them how to be incoherent and delusional?

            • Shadrach 1.1.1.2.1.2

              HI TP

              KJT’s comments contain some inaccuracies that aren’t helpful.

              There are a range of scenarios with managed funds, here are the common ones:

              1. A managed fund operates to hold shares for dividend income. The shares are held in NZ companies. In that situation, if shares are sold, any capital gain is not taxable.

              2. A managed fund operates to trade in shares. The shares are held in NZ companies. In that situation, if shares are sold, any capital gain is taxable.

              3. A managed fund operates to hold shares for dividend income. The shares are held in overseas companies. In that situation, if shares are sold, the tax liability status is based on something called the ‘FIF’ (foreign investment fund) status. If the shares are held in a FIF, then the change in market value each year is taxable, along with any dividend. If the shares are not held in a FIF, then only the dividend is taxable.

              4. A managed fund operates to trade in shares dividend income. The shares are held in overseas companies. In that situation, if shares are sold, any capital gain is taxable.

              Where KJT is confused (“Investments, Loke most savings, are liable for CGT, already”) is scenario 1, and the non FIF shares I scenario 3. As I see it, a CGT will absolutely impact an average saver/investor who is covered by either of these scenarios, so again KJT has it wrong. But perhaps worse than that, a local CGT will remove the incentive to invest in NZ stocks (in that currently any CG on trade is non taxable if the shares are held for dividend income), an entirely perverse scenario.

              • Sam

                Translation: We better try and cut taxes now before public health and education collapses the economy and every one can save the world by buying more stocks. Congrats Dr, you have fallen hard for the inversion narritive. Not sure you can be helped. Less than 1% of managed funds turned a profit last year. Only way they can break even is by signing up new clients.

                • Tuppence Shrewsbury

                  I’ll bite to your idiocy Sam.

                  Any evidence that only 1% of funds turned a profit and aren’t just a massive ponzi?

                  • Sam

                    “Despite the contraction, the decline in 2018, of just over $100bn, is significantly less than the $461bn drop in 2008.”>>> https://www.ft.com/content/a9f600ca-1b2f-11e9-b93e-f4351a53f1c3

                    There’s maybe 2 moves hedge funds can choose that haven’t rolled over yet. Good luck picking the right hedge fund that will get it right with your level of education.

                    • Tuppence Shrewsbury

                      Content locked behind a paywall? Probably doesn’t relate to anything.

                      My managed KiwiSaver fund, the growth fund at milford, turned a healthy profit, so did all its other funds. So they’re 100% in the black. let’s look for more

                      Year to date positions for KiwiSaver funds at the end of dec 18 range from an average positive return for conservative funds to an average negative return for growth funds. This would imply more then more than 1% of funds make profit

                    • Sam

                      I’v copy and pasted the relevant bit for you.

                    • Tuppence Shrewsbury

                      A quote with no context is like a sausage with no sauce, dubious.

                      Ed mark 2, except your arguments are less convincing as you seem to have a subscription to the FT

              • Tuppence Shrewsbury

                Thanks Shadrach.

                I knew all those things. I just wanted to see if KJT would accept he doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does about everything. Which is probably why his businesses aren’t that successful.

                Too easy to bat away criticism of any labour plan as national politicking. It prevents proper scrutiny of any policies and will result in a new kiwi build

                • Shadrach

                  All good. KJT does post a lot of bs. Sam, on the other hand, is just plain batty.

              • KJT

                Translation.
                Shadrack and reality are only loosely acquainted.

              • KJT

                As you well know, only the wealthy buy and hold stocks for dividends.

                The rest of us have savings with fund managers that buy and sell shares.

                Saying that CGT on Kiwi saver will make any difference to most of us, is a lie.

                As you have kindly shown, those who buy shares for dividend income and don’t sell are already taxed, as are those who trade in shares.

                • Shadrach

                  “As you well know, only the wealthy buy and hold stocks for dividends.”
                  Either you have a strange definition of wealthy, or you are once again talking out of your backside. That said, you at least are acknowledging your comments around KiwiSaver and CGT are false.

        • KJT 1.1.1.3

          Kiwi saver fund managers count as “traders” in buying and selling shares.
          Hence they cannot use the, bought as an ongoing investment loophole.

          • Shadrach 1.1.1.3.1

            “Kiwi saver fund managers count as “traders” in buying and selling shares.”
            I’ll resist pointing out the obvious contradictions in you recent posts, but you’ll need to have a chat with Michael Cullen.

            “Sir Michael Cullen says the Tax Working Group is looking for ways to stop any capital gains tax from eating into people’s KiwiSaver accounts.”

            https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/09/fears-kiwisaver-could-be-hit-by-capital-gains-tax.html

          • Tuppence Shrewsbury 1.1.1.3.2

            So there activities will incur a CGT is what you are saying?

            • KJT 1.1.1.3.2.1

              If you are in the business of buying and selling shares, yes, you are taxed on the gains.

              • Tuppence Shrewsbury

                KiwiSaver funds buy shares, so they’ll be taxed on sale for gains. The fund then grows more slowly thanks to tax, but if it grows at all it’s taxed again.

                Ergo, the capital gains tax impacts the KiwiSaver fund more than the current tax arrangement.

                Ergo, you don’t know what you are talking about and I’d be very scared of doing business with you

              • Shadrach

                That’s not what you’ve been arguing though.

                “Kiwi saver fund managers count as “traders” in buying and selling shares.
                Hence they cannot use the, bought as an ongoing investment loophole.”

                “Investments, Loke most savings, are liable for CGT, already. To claim it will make a difference to the average saver is an outright, lie.”

                Neither of those statements was accurate. And now you’re contradicting your self.

    • I didn’t know the Govt had included or excluded ANYTHING yet. Why are people jumping to conclusions about what is in and what is out? National scaremongering is behind all of this.

      • Sam 1.2.1

        So much of the life we live has been designed by the oligarchy that has successfully brainwashed us into doing/thinking/wanting the very things that they sell.

        Start unplugging. Start by taking away the financial power of the elite. Start with Capital Gains Tax.

      • Shadrach 1.2.2

        The discussion is about the recommendations of the TWG. There are obviously close ties between Labour and that group (the chair is an ex Labour government Finance Minister), and it was a Labour led government that commissioned the TWG. The noise over the proposals of the TWG is not some National Party plot. It is reaction to the TWG’s proposals themselves, fueled to some degree by the void left by the Labour Party not having a more timely response to a working group it commissioned.

        • Sam 1.2.2.1

          7% of kiwis believe in chemtrails

          5% believe in Simon Bridges Leadership.

          Why has National Party leadership fallen in quality. I’m afraid if Simon becomes Prime Minister then the office on the 9th floor of the beehive won’t mean what it used to mean. When parliament is full of liars, thieves, con artists & imbeciles it falls on the safe hands of The New Zealand Defence Force to secure this nations democracy, And the petty whinging about what the well off may or may not pay in taxes.

          • Shadrach 1.2.2.1.1

            “Why has National Party leadership fallen in quality.”

            An admirer of John Key, were you eh Sam?

        • KJT 1.2.2.2

          National being hypocritical, as usual.

          “Haters and wreckers” is an apt description of National.

          • Shadrach 1.2.2.2.1

            Given that you’ve been shown up on your lack of understanding of CGT and it’s impact on investments, it’s hard to much of what you say seriously.

  2. AB 2

    I do think the debated has moved on a bit from 2014 – for example Guyon asking Amy Adams about her property holdings, or my barber roaring with laughter at Simon Bridge’s characterization of owning rentals as part of “the Kiwi way of life”. (Two incomes, 1 kid, mid-30’s and still renting)

    But it hasn’t moved on enough I fancy. The commentariat, including almost the entire media, belong to the social class that may have to pay something.
    It’s a funny old place Kiwiland, nice enough people, but viciously greedy at times.

  3. patricia bremner 3

    When the Government makes the decision to have CGT, they just need to put out the actual tax tables.
    Gnats can’t make up stories then.

    No one should be putting money into the Australian share market or their houses. A very shaky future there at present. Both are due for falls. A bad example by the Nats.

    The people in National want everyone in NZ to think they will lose. The biggest losers would be 2nd property owners +.

    The only capital most people have is the Michael Cullen designed Kiwi Saver, which would be twice as valuable except National halved the starter gift, lowered what the employer had to pay, and generally weakened it.

    Gnats are not counting the offsets offered by the Government to middle and lower paid Kiwi savers. Typical… just tell half the story. There would be little to pay for this group and the lowest would be better off.

    By trying to frighten these people with Kiwi Saver into voting against Capital Gains Tax, the owners of many houses properties and investments hope to dodge paying CGT, and overturn the Government. That would make us all losers.

  4. Sacha 4

    In the initial rush for angles and opinions, views in support of the capital gains tax proved difficult to find amid the roaring chorus of “no”.

    Media did not seek out the views of actual working people, renters, etc – that’s why. More betrayal of their profession’s obligations and standards.

    • ScottGN 4.1

      That’s why the line from the PM on The Nation this morning when she said she wanted to hear everyone’s views on the CGT not just columnists in the Herald was so good.

  5. Kat 5

    When will people finally realise that National will say and do anything to be in power. that is ALL they are about, managers of the status quo and piss poor at that. At least Labour/NZ First/Greens have new ideas and policies to put before the electorate for discussion. National loves playing the hard nose political game and likes to be seen as the power brokers and superior economic managers. National and poodles are in for a surprise. Labour/NZ First/Greens are enjoying being in govt and have no compunction to toss it all away. This govt won’t be dying in a ditch over a tax that affects the greedies among us.

  6. greywarshark 6

    Brian Easton has written a thoughtful column on CGT. He finishes in apologetic mood. I think that is so honest. He says it is difficult – looked at it from different perspectives.

    https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/to-tax-capital-gains-or-not-to-tax-capital-gains

    He also refers to the Minsky cycle and gives a link. Perhaps we should read about it.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyman_Minsky#Minsky's_financial_instability_hypothesis

    Hyman Philip Minsky (September 23, 1919 – October 24, 1996) was an American economist, a professor of economics at Washington University in St. Louis, and a distinguished scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. His research attempted to provide an understanding and explanation of the characteristics of financial crises, which he attributed to swings in a potentially fragile financial system.

    This is an interesting analysis in the sub-prime mortgage crisis heading.
    McCulley also points out that human nature is inherently pro-cyclical, meaning, in Minsky’s words, that “from time to time, capitalist economies exhibit inflations and debt deflations which seem to have the potential to spin out of control. In such processes, the economic system’s reactions to a movement of the economy amplify the movement – inflation feeds upon inflation and debt-deflation feeds upon debt-deflation.”

    In other words, people are momentum investors by nature, not value investors. People naturally take actions that expand the high and low points of cycles. One implication for policymakers and regulators is the implementation of counter-cyclical policies, such as contingent capital requirements for banks that increase during boom periods and are reduced during busts.

    • RedLogix 6.1

      Minsky huh …. must have been reading Steven Keen.

      Who incidentally is now proven right about the Australian house price bubble.

      • Sam 6.1.1

        It’s actually no difficulty betting against the 90% of morons who lose money on housing day in and day out. What’s more difficult is to explain to the morons in away they understand how they’re losing day on and day out. For that Steve Keen has my thanks and admiration.

  7. joe90 7

    But you get the picture.

    The tactic clearly is to come up with a number and keep repeating it and repeating it and repeating it.

    Rig the economy by rigging the dialogue. Words matter.

    This isn’t the only move, though. Another move is simply altering our collective conversation about what change is. The Stanford sociologists Aaron Horvath and Walter Powell show that these hyper-elites are very successful at changing the conversation. They’re good at making certain approaches to change look bad and making others look better. For example, elites often make charter schools look better than they are or make unions look worse than they are.

    Or elites might introduce a new concept like “resilience”, a concept that sounds great but that is actually just about adjusting to societal crappiness rather than fixing it. What wealthy people do is rig the discourse.

    https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/28/anand-giridharadas-interview-winners-take-all?

  8. Observer Tokoroa 8

    Fairness

    The more Capital Gains Tax assists the lower wage and asset weak citizens of NZ, the deeper National and its dishonest money exercises will cripple Simon Bridges and his bewildered followers..

    Everyone knows that there has to be equity in a civilised Democracy. Everyone one, that is, except the likes of the immediate past Government of Sir John Key and Sir Billy English.

    Having people unable to ever own a house; or having people in a Landlord’s unregulated noose is outrageous in a Democracy.

    Capital Gains Tax is fair to all – not to the greedy nor the fraudulent.

  9. mickysavage 9

    Digging deeper into the claim taxing on an accrual basis would mean taxing presumably yearly on capital gains.

    The TAG proposes that this be at a discounted rate. So applying a tax at a full rate looks somewhat disingenuous.

    • KJT 9.1

      I don’t think the Government will ever charge a CGT, at the full personal tax rate.

      Unfortunately.

      Why should wage earners pay most of the taxes, on income earned through, work?

      We already have PIE, and taxes on shares at lower rates.

  10. Ad 10

    Government should have got its proxy commentators ready to contest the held of public opinion long before the report landed.

    There are far too few of them, and none are on talkback.

    The Capital gains Tax debate is having all the hallmarks of the Remain team from the Brexit debate: right on the facts but still losing. Tactically dumb on multiple fronts.

    I see the New Lynn MP Deborah Russell is doing a public meeting on Monday on tax.

    Because this meeting comes out before the government has proposed a position, all she can do is explain the conclusions of a report that isn’t hers. She’s not a portfolio-holder in a related field, and there’s no support from any Minister.

    Way to get eaten by a crowd Debs.

    That was why it was necessary to get proxy commentators in the field, or Ministers who are prepared to do more than bend and lace their own shoes to run backwards fast.

    • RedLogix 10.1

      It’s a mistake I’ve seen made over and over by the left.

      It’s almost as if we think our intrinsically wonderful ideas will just sell themselves ….

      • Ad 10.1.1

        The only Minister taking the hits is Twyford, and his is the only two portfolios in which they are making a real effort backed by shedloads of money and ambitious policy (pity he’s put people in that are simply wrecking his necessary public service machinery).

        Most of the rest of this government are already pretty identical to Key’s lot.

      • KJT 10.1.2

        Well we expect people to respond to sense and logic.

        However when the opposition is motivated purely by greed, for power and/or money.

        Note the hysterical opposition to CGT, from the well off, who have had 60% tax cuts since the 80’s, objecting to paying their share.

  11. Chris T 11

    So let us get this straight.

    You are blaming the opposition for simply taking advantage of the governments vagueness and inability to give any details of anything?

    I get your point, but she is a pretty self inflicted wound.

  12. McFlock 12

    Personally, I like the idea of a CGT and wait to see what the leftish parties propose for the next election. Others can debate the minutae of what doesn’t get taxed or whatever, or complain that the government hasn’t deployed enough shills to counter tory shills who are complaining about proposals that haven’t even been adopted for consideration yet.

    Soimon can whinge that the kiwi way of life is under attack – he thinks owning a slew of rental properties is normal. Even kiwisaver/cgt debates are a joke – most people “retire” with fuckall. Taxing a third of fuckall is less painful than having healthcare wait times from an underfunded DHB.

    • Kat 12.1

      Yep, and as the PM said today its not a left right ideology debate but rather about whats good for NZ. I like the way Jacinda Ardern cuts through the crap and gets to the nitty gritty. I hope to live long enough to see the blood sucking insurance leeches out of healthcare and the MOW reinstated.

  13. Observer Tokoroa 13

    What’s good for New Zealand

    A Worker – never being able to afford a house is not good for New Zealand
    A Worker – Being flogged penniless by our Dickensian Land Lords is – not good for New Zealand.

    It must be politely explained to Simon Bridges that the Wealth of NZ will be shared.

  14. KJT 14

    I will leave the last to Gorden Campbell. Who has it in a nutshell.

    “In sum, our tax base has become unusually narrow, even before we begin to consider the challenges being posed by last an ageing boomer population, automation, the gig economy (which will undermine PAYE) climate change and a range of infrastructural needs. That package of issues alone is an argument for expanding the tax base. In recent decades, we have simply become overly reliant on income tax and GST, and our company tax rate is running at above the OECD average – while our tax rate on domestic shareholders is currently the sixth lowest in the OECD.

    To be fair, not everyone who invests in shares or buys and sells property for capital gain are wealthy. But lets not kid ourselves that they’re the norm, either. In fact, the notion that a capital gains tax is against the interests and the values of ordinary New Zealanders is absurd. It is almost as absurd in fact, as National’s claim a few years ago that “Mum and Dad” investors would be the main beneficiaries of its fire sale of shares in our state energy companies. National and Act are protecting a minority interest of the top 10%, and painting this as being synonymous with the national interest. Well, it isn’t.“

  15. greywarshark 15

    Found this – it is a view on taxes being usurious that will be promoted by those who like hyperbole.

    http://pc.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-tax-collectors-office-by-pieter.html

    • KJT 15.1

      https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Rogers
      “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs”.

      Where a lot of the screwed up ideas, such as people extracting money from society, are “Wealth Creators”, and “taxation is theft” originated.

  16. cleangreen 16

    National only oppose the capital gains tax because they weren’t in Government to sell it to us earlier!!!!!.

    • KJT 16.1

      National already added more CGT, the bright line test for landlords.

      Because they knew it was necessary.

      Their current opposition is simply, hypocritical.

      • indiana 16.1.1

        Are you sure the bright line test was for landlords? It was more for helping the IRD identify property speculators, those that brought and sold quickly.

        If anything National did to landlords was remove the ability to claim depreciation in your tax returns. Not a new tax, not a CGT, nothing hypocritical but a way to raise tax revenue for the government without a detrimental impact on the impact on why many people buy property for the long term investment of building their retirement fund.

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    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    10 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    10 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    12 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    13 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    15 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
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