Nats running a $5b a year strategic deficit

Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, March 18th, 2012 - 112 comments
Categories: debt / deficit - Tags:

Labour’s Revenue spokesman, David Clark, has picked up on a statement in IRD’s Briefing to the Incoming Minister that “2.5 percentage points of this decline [in tax take as a percentage of GDP] is attributable to policy changes”. 2.5% of GDP is $5 billion a year. So, a huge chunk of the record deficits that National is running is attributable to their tax cuts for the rich.

Next time you hear a rightie saying ‘we have to balance the budget with spending cuts or we’ll end up like Greece’, remember that it was National’s tax cuts for the rich that created the problem.* **

If they were really serious about getting the deficit down, National would just reverse the tax cuts that are causing the biggest slice of it. But they’re not. Instead, they’re cutting thousands of jobs and important public services – which just makes the economic and fiscal problems worse as public servants go on the dole and people have to turn to more expensive private options for those services.

And the Nats are using the giant pile of debt they’ve built up thanks, in large part, to the fact they’re borrowing $5 billion a year unnecessarily as a justification for selling our assets. Even though Bill English admits that assets sales would make the deficit worse to the tune of $100 million a year.

This just goes to show that National is not acting in the country’s best interests. They’ve run a strategic deficit by sending mountains of cash to the people who need it least – who just so happen to be themselves and their supporters. And now they’re using that deficit to justify their ideological agenda to starve public services and cut our assets.

* by ‘problem’ it’s worth noting that NZ has the 11th lowest level of net government debt in the OECD

** interestingly, it was tax cuts, not spending, that caused Greece’s unsustainable deficits in the 2000s, too.

112 comments on “Nats running a $5b a year strategic deficit ”

  1. Kevin Welsh 1

    Nothing new here James. This has been ‘unofficial’ National Party policy for quite some time.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0508/S00023.htm

  2. mouse 2

    “Next time you hear a rightie saying ‘we have to balance the budget with spending cuts or we’ll end up like Greece’…

    Here is Deborah Coddington in todays Herald, blathering exactly that!

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10792785

    • marsman 2.1

      Is Deborah Coddington for real? What a piece of pathetic, patronizing drivel and downright nasty to boot.

    • Half Crown Millionare 2.2

      Does anybody read or listen or take notice to the garbage Coddington writes or says?

      • Draco T Bastard 2.2.1

        Probably, else she wouldn’t get published. Of course, it’s only the really simple minded idiots that do so.

        • Half Crown Millionare 2.2.1.1

          I agree DTB and that is the problem, she is held up by the MSM as someone who has an intelligent point of view. My cat would have a better prospective and view on life than this person would ever have. As for her contributing to that other clowns web site Perigo, if she thinks Ayn Rand was so shit hot why does she not migrate to Somalia. A very free market, a stuff everybody society, a survival of the fittest country which should suit her down to the ground.

    • Georgecom 2.3

      Don’t expect anything other than that from Coddington. The usual ‘primacy of the market’, ‘interests of global capital = interests of nation states’, ‘trickle down’ rhetoric. Obviously Coddington was asleep for all of 2008. A different ball game now, just that no pathway out of the mess has yet been drawn up. Coddingtons approach is akin to telling the obese person that eating more cream pies is the solution to their problems.

      • RedLogix 2.3.1

        telling the obese person that eating more cream pies is the solution to their problems.

        Well actually I’ve just lost 20kg over the last six months… while eating all the cream I want.

  3. Jim 3

    Hi
    We need to expose John Key’s porkies, I agree wholeheartedly. His economic policy is tanking New Zealand. But it’s austerity economics that’s doing it, and that includes the absurd vainglorious pursuit of balanced books. And Labour has got the same bug.

    New Zealand lost a massive amount of GDP at the time of the global financial crisis. Demand has slumped and uemployment is high including most who have part time jobs who want to work full time (12%). The housing bubble has burst, so credit from banks is not augmenting stagnant wages. There is a slump in demand.

    What does this mean? We must dump talk of ‘unsustainable’ government deficits. All that talk about Greece is really about how the EU organises its currency and Germany’s greedy export policy to put countries like Greece into debt penury. But New Zealand has its own currency, and there’s no such thing as ‘unsustainable’ public debt until the economy is back on its feet with true full employment. We need to find another economic stick to beat National with, along with their banks, their rent seeking, their low wages and their bad employment contracts.

    Our real economic problems are about a housing bubble forced on people by the banks, high unemployment and government spending that’s too low to replace lost demand in the private sector. Government must create good basic jobs to expand the economy and that means the government must spend. That’s the stick we have, and we’re not using it.

  4. Iceland recently repaid just under $450m to the IYF – ahead of schedule. Iceland is also one of the few countries that didn’t resort to austerity as a reaction to the recession. Instead, they kicked out the bankers. We have an astounding amount of research and history showing that austerity doesn’t work. There’s really no excuse for it.

  5. KJT 5

    All part of the plan.
     
    http://kjt-kt.blogspot.co.nz/
    “”They certainly seem to be keen on precipitating an economic disaster.  The only possible reasons are either they have bought into their own propaganda, 

     
    OR they expect to gain by it.””
  6. Nick K 6

    We could tax everyone at 100% and run MASSIVE surpluses and be the world’s richest nation. Go for it, Labour!!

    • Colonial Viper 6.1

      You just have no idea, do you. I thought “conservatives” were supposed to be fiscally responsible, and I thought that working to balance income and expenditure would be a key part of that.

      Of course, National is these days just a neoliberal party for the rich, and has lost touch with its true conservative roots.

    • RedLogix 6.2

      Idiot strawman. The wealthiest and most decent nations to live in all tend to have total tax takes in the order of 35-50%. In other words they balance the private and public sectors to gain the maximum synergies from both.

  7. Perhaps we need a ‘citizens initiated referendum’ to open up the books and see just
    what the true picture is,key and english are keeping to the same scare tactics to
    push their provocotive changes in services just to financially support their mates.
    Perhaps parliament needs a separate ‘watch body’ to see that ministers individual
    personal wants and views dont conflict with the right of the citizens,getting into
    parliament and using tax payers money is not a ministers right,it is a responsibility
    to use taxes legally and without favouritism.
    Key and english certainly have been negligent in managing the economy,they are
    taking nz to a very dangerous precipice.

    • Foreign Waka 7.1

      You don’t need a referendum, just the opposition asking for it under the fiscal responsibility act. The question is, would the Joe Blogs on the street ever get to know the truth about our income and expenditure broken down item by item? We could insist….

  8. Clashman 8

    Doesnt it mean 2.5% of the DECLINE in the tax take not 2.5% of the total take.?

    • Hanswurst 8.1

      No. It’s a somewhat awkward way of putting it, but what it states is that tax revenue has decreased by 4.1 percentage points (of GDP), 2.5 of which are attributable to policy changes. In other words, the interpretation in the post is correct.

  9. johnm 9

    What the Nats are doing is classic neoliberal “Starve the Beast” economics where deficits are deliberately created through tax cuts to the rich and the business sector creating deficits which are then used as an excuse for spending cuts and austerity. Part of this also is Privatisation and attacking unionised workers who through their collective strength obtain fair remuneration for their work.

    It’s a tragedy that a once good country as NZ has adopted the politics of selfishness and greed with the attendant social destructiveness.

    Refer link on the U$$ experience where this cruel ideology began as far back in the 20s

    http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=6724

    http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=74&jumival=718

    • johnm 9.1

      Further from above interview”

      “CROTTY: Yes, absolutely. That is the–the starve-the-beast theory is a theory which says that if you cut taxes enough and run up enough deficits, there’ll be this tremendous pressure which will develop to slash spending. We’re not going to slash defense spending, so it slashes all the New Deal spending. All the money that’s spent for schoolkids and poor families and, you know, Medicaid and–that’s what we’re going to cut. So it’s–starving the beast means shrinking the government, forcing the government’s social programs, which are an enormous component of the New Deal. The deficits help. See, deficits are a winner in this drive to generate the 1920s again.”

      • marsman 9.1.1

        Nasty, nasty Bill English. He’s not ‘inept’ ,he is knowingly and blatantly plundering our nation’s wealth and handing it over to the likes of Goldman Sachs with no doubt a large pay-off for him down the line. It feels like treason to me.

        • johnm 9.1.1.1

          Hi marsman
          I agree in effect when all the BS is siphoned off, that’s what’s being done. These people detest the social democratic redistributive model you wouldn’t believe, it’s frightening. Look what’s been done to Greece in a short time almost down to 3rd world poverty overnight.

  10. Fortran 10

    I see that Ireland has found substantial oil just off its Atlantic coast, and it is being made ready to commercially pump. It is much larger than first thought. (Sunday Star Times).
    Will help the Irish economy. No Fracking here ?

    • McFlock 10.1

      Should help redress some of the damage they caused themselves becoming a dotcom tax haven after the millenium.

  11. Maxamillian 11

    As far as I’m aware there is absolutely no limit on how much The NZ govt can borrow. There’s no chance of default. Why we worry about rating agencies’ view on NZ sovereign debt baffles me. The RBNZ can always buy the bonds in the market – as much as they want. And so in a roundabout way, the govt can ALWAYS pay back it’s “debt”. The key is that the govt spends sensibly and correspondingly taxes sensibly to avoid inflation. Austerity is not sensible. It amounts to kicking the easiest to kick, when they’re already down. If the govt spends with a goal to increasing production, then they wont have to tax as much proportionally due to the added goods and services. In any case, I believe we don’t tax enough – specifically the wealthy; the govt has to clip the ticket for the free ride that the rentiers are getting. And I’m tired of the classic retort that increasing taxes inhibits innovation – bollocks….

  12. tsmithfield 12

    “So, a huge chunk of the record deficits that National is running is attributable to their tax cuts for the rich.”

    If you had just stopped at “tax cuts” I would have agreed with you. The tax cuts were widely distributed. While those on lower-to-average incomes may not have individually got as much as some individual rich people, because there are a lot more in the lower-to-average group, the cumulative total of their tax cuts would have had a considerable hit on the government’s books. Perhaps cumulatively more than “tax cuts for the rich”.

    “If they were really serious about getting the deficit down, National would just reverse the tax cuts that are causing the biggest slice of it. But they’re not. Instead, they’re cutting thousands of jobs and important public services – ”

    That is where lefties have warped thinking. Government should be aiming to meet the needs of its citizens as efficiently and effectively as possible while leaving as much money in taxpayers hands as possible. Rather than take the easy step of pillaging tax-payers for more, this government is trying to address the cost size of the equation to eliminate the deficit.

    “which just makes the economic and fiscal problems worse as public servants go on the dole and people have to turn to more expensive private options for those services.”

    Lets assume efficiencies can be gained that means the government can do exactly the same with say 5000 less people. Is it then costing the government less or more to have 5000 more people on the dole rather than employed in government?

    • felix 12.1

      “Lets assume efficiencies can be gained that means the government can do exactly the same with say 5000 less people.”

      Let’s see a single shred of real-world evidence to suggest that your pie-in-the-sky assumption is worth discussing first.

      • tsmithfield 12.1.1

        “Let’s see a single shred of real-world evidence to suggest that your pie-in-the-sky assumption is worth discussing first.”

        What I am surprised about is that you automatically seem to assume that such efficiencies are unachievable.

        I guess the obvious evidence is the move from pen and paper systems to computerised ones. The question is whether such a leap is possible now. I would argue that it is. For instance, better computer systems and more integration between departments will probably lessen the opportunity for cheating on taxes and thus lessen the need for auditors. Improved transfer of information between departments through more effective computerisation will probably make mergers such as those being promoted at the moment by the government more effective and efficient.

        I can envisage that in the future those interacting with government departments will be able to access key people through the likes of skype rather than having to go in for face-to-face meetings, with interchange of documents in pdf format etc. Once we get fibre-optics through the country a lot of efficiencies will be possible in this respect. Actual physical offices will be able to be smaller and less in number.

        • felix 12.1.1.1

          So to back up the number you pulled out of your arse you pull a bunch of other assumptions out behind it.

          Such as ‘the current level of service is sufficient’.

          Such as ‘the population is static’.

          Such as ‘a tech paradigm shift anywhere comparable to the “pen & paper to computer” one is available to us’.

          Why don’t you offer a single recent example of efficiencies being achieved in a govt department by cutting staff? That would be the obvious way to argue your point if it had any validity. It’s very telling that you don’t, seeing as the National govt of the 1990s spent 8 years slashing and burning.

          Do you have an example from that period that resulted in either an improvement in service or a reduction in costs after taking into account the cost of contracting out the workload?

          All your ideas have already been tried and found wanting tsmithfield. And they’ve all had to have been reversed at far greater expense later. When viewed over the medium to long term, it’s you and your shortsighted penny-pinching that are the inefficiencies in the system.

          • tsmithfield 12.1.1.1.1

            “So to back up the number you pulled out of your arse you pull a bunch of other assumptions out behind it.”

            Yep. Have you ever heard the phrase “all things being equal”?

            “Such as ‘a tech paradigm shift anywhere comparable to the “pen & paper to computer” one is available to us’.”

            I have a nephew who spends a lot of his time setting up skype communication systems through organisations now. So, the future is nearly here and will have major implications for costs in organisations. Hence, why the government is so keen to push the broadband roll-out.

            • Jackal 12.1.1.1.1.1

              LOL The broadband rollout. Is that a bit like the bicycle tracks all over New Zealand where we have some grand opening of a road that people have been riding bikes along for years. National has failed tsmithfield. Wake up to what they pulled out of their arse.

              The tax cuts (for the rich) had a very limited effect on middle income earners if you take into account inflation and GST increases. They had a negative effect on the poor. Therefore you can categorically say that they were tax cuts for the rich, because they disproportionately helped the already wealthy in comparison to the poor. The most immediate quantifiable reaction was New Zealand having the greatest increase in inequality of all OECD countries.

              The tax cuts for the wealthy were specifically made so that they could pay down private debt. Nick Smith even said as much. This has had a huge and disproportionate impact on those paying for debts they did not incur, and the government’s debt as well. It will again be social policy austerity that pays the debt National has incurred as New Zealand’s government on behalf of their rich mates.

              Could you tell me how many times New Zealander’s are going to pay for the elitist mismanagement?

    • Pascal's bookie 12.2

      That is where lefties have warped thinking. Government should be aiming to meet the needs of its citizens as efficiently and effectively as possible while leaving as much money in taxpayers hands as possible. Rather than take the easy step of pillaging tax-payers for more, this government is trying to address the cost size of the equation to eliminate the deficit

      This interestingly backwards, but close enough to a truth that itmight be worth exploring.

      Government should be aiming to meet the needs of its citizens as efficiently and effectively as possible while leaving as much money in taxpayers hands as possible.

      I think that’s a pretty uncontroversial statement, as long as we define ‘needs’ in terms of ‘expectations from citizens of what government should provide.’

      ie, the government should meet the expectations citizens have of it as efficiently as it can, and it should levy taxation at a level sufficient to meet those expectations, and not more.

      If you accept that, and I think it’s pretty uncontroversial, then surely the way to go about tax cuts is to find further efficiences in the expectaion meeting side of the equation, and then cut the taxation levels to suit if the efficiences are found.

      Cutting the taxation levels first is surely, therefore, the backwards way of going about it, as political realities dictate that the expectations need to be either met, or fudged. Any fudging will eventually be found out, and the people will demand that their expectaions be met. It’s a recipe for deficits. Ooh, and look at the post, what’s that all about?

      • tsmithfield 12.2.1

        I would agree with you in an ideal world. However, perhaps human psychology would thwart such efforts if the straightforward approach was taken. For instance, there is a lot more motivation to find ways to save money if you’ve just had a wage cut.

        • Draco T Bastard 12.2.1.1

          For instance, there is a lot more motivation to find ways to save money if you’ve just had a wage cut.

          No there isn’t. If you’ve just taken a wage cut the total motivation is to tell the person responsible for the wage cut to fuck off and then slack off. Cutting peoples wages doesn’t motivate them to do better as you’ve just proven that, no matter how well they’re doing, all that’s going to happen is that they’ll get kicked in the goolies and told to do better.

          It’s called slave driving.

          • Colonial Viper 12.2.1.1.1

            They can always pretend to pay us. And we can always pretend to work.

            If you look around our economy this is being put into action everywhere.

    • Vicky32 12.3

      Lets assume efficiencies can be gained that means the government can do exactly the same with say 5000 less people.

      Aside from the fact that you ought to have said ‘fewer people’, why should we assume that?

    • handle 12.4

      Cutting government spending will not fix private sector debt.

    • KJT 12.5

      Tax cuts for low and middle income earners were more than offset by the rise in GST.
      Net tax cuts were only for the rich.

  13. Pascal's bookie 13

    Are you suggesting that only in an ideal world does it make sense to not count your chickens before they are hatched? That, to me, seems quite precisely arse about face.

    For instance, there is a lot more motivation to find ways to save money if you’ve just had a wage cut.

    There may well be. But it’s a poor excuse to ask for a lower wage, and there is no necessity in the idea that the savings you are forced to make as a result will be good for you.

  14. Pascal's bookie 14

    Also seem to recall that after the 08 elections the Bill English brought in some outside chaps to go over the public service line by line looking for efficiencies to make. Also seem to recall that at least one of said chaps wouldn’t accept his cheque on the grounds that he couldn’t in good faith accept taking money for not being able to find much in the way of savings to be made.

    Or perhaps I dreamed that.

    If that is what happened, or something very much like enough to be the gist, then it would seem that the people arguing that the efficiencies will be found if we just look, because they are just obviously there, just because, because it would be nice if they were, are the ones living in a dream world, weft of warped assumptions.

    • tsmithfield 14.1

      See my discussion with Felix above. I am thinking more in terms of major technology advances that are currently being implemented in a lot of organisations now, rather than tinkering around the edges.

      • tsmithfield 14.1.1

        Here is an example of how both costs can be cut and services improved at the same time.

        Imagine in the not too distant future that if you need to go and see WINZ for example, or talk to IRD, you just connect on to Skype at a time convenient to you for a face-to-face meeting.

        During the meeting, you need to sign a form. The form is scanned across to you where you sign it, scan it and return it. Any necessary identification such as licences, birth certificates etc can be scanned and sent across, or downloaded through secure links at the various government departments. An automatic filing system checks and stores the information rather than having admin people do it manually.

        When this sort of thing kicks in there will be a much smaller government, and less need for buildings etc. This will mean assets can be cashed up and returned to the government. Also there will be more people working from home, meaning much less travel and congestion. Government employees will be able to schedule to work at times convenient for them, and people will be able to make contact with the government at times that suit them, rather than having to interrupt their working day as it is now.

        This will be a much more cost efficient and user-friendly system in many ways.

        • Kotahi Tane Huna 14.1.1.1

          There’s the problem with the right – you actually believe you can say “this will happen” and it just must be true because you believe your own argument.

          What percentage of beneficiaries have a broadband connection? Works meet spanner.

          • Pascal's bookie 14.1.1.1.1

            Oh that’s not fair KTH. I’m certain as can be that ts would happily acknowledge that ensuring that everyone in NZ is readily able to access broadband in a practical and convenient way will be a prerequisite for the brave new world.

            In short, practical broadband access will be a basic right of citizenship.

            • Kotahi Tane Huna 14.1.1.1.1.1

              Of course, how silly of me 🙂

              • tsmithfield

                But it will get cheaper. Broadband can already be prepaid for like mobile phones as well. So, it is not really such a huge expense.

                Of course there will always be a physical office for people who can’t afford broadband. However, there will be less of them.

                • Colonial Viper

                  Of course there will always be a physical office for people who can’t afford broadband. However, there will be less of them.

                  There will be fewer who can’t afford broadband because incomes are going up and the cost of living is decreasing?

                  Don’t think so.

                  • felix

                    Yeah, and unemployment becomes less of a problem the more people we sack anyway.

                    You can say pretty much anything if every time you open your mouth you pretend you’ve never said anything else before. It’s fucking magic.

        • felix 14.1.1.2

          “Imagine in the not too distant future that if you need to go and see WINZ for example, or talk to IRD, you just connect on to Skype at a time convenient to you for a face-to-face meeting.”

          I can imagine it, do you know why? Because that’s exactly how it works now you dimwit. You’re talking about taking a telephone call and adding video. zOMFG the efficiency.

          “During the meeting, you need to sign a form. The form is scanned across to you where you sign it, scan it and return it. Any necessary identification such as licences, birth certificates etc can be scanned and sent across, or downloaded through secure links at the various government departments. “

          Wow, imagine a world where you can send documents to govt departments over a phone line.

          Now you just need a snazzy, futuristic name for this incredible technology. Something short with a snazzy, futuristic “x” in it.

          We’ve done all that. We’ve banked those efficiency gains. All you’re talking about is tweaking around the edges and you’re so embarrassingly out of touch you don’t even know that’s what you’re doing.

          • Carol 14.1.1.2.1

            “During the meeting, you need to sign a form. The form is scanned across to you where you sign it, scan it and return it. Any necessary identification such as licences, birth certificates etc can be scanned and sent across, or downloaded through secure links at the various government departments. “

            Yep done all that while talking on the phone to my ACC case manager… and others relevant to my injury…. but it was also helpful to have a face-to-face meeting with my case manager early on, and regular face-to-face meetings with my medical specialist.

            • tsmithfield 14.1.1.2.1.1

              “Yep done all that while talking on the phone to my ACC case manager… and others relevant to my injury…. but it was also helpful to have a face-to-face meeting with my case manager early on, and regular face-to-face meetings with my medical specialist.”

              But if you were doing this in a face-to-face meeting over skype you are virtually in the same situation as in a live face-to-face meeting, in that you are able to communicate with body language as well as verbally. And you can do things such as walk through documents with the other person etc. So, I am not sure you have had quite the experience I am envisaging.

              • McFlock

                And when 0800 numbers came in they said it was as good as speaking face to face. And when phone robots came in they said it was as good as speaking to a real person.
                    
                So now we have the wonderful situation where someone comes into a WINZ office because they don’t have a phone, gets referred to the bank of phones in the WINZ office to call the WINZ 0800 number to make an appointment to see someone in the WINZ office that they’re already in.
                   
                I guess soon they’ll have a skype booth in every WINZ office.

                • felix

                  You’ll just confuse him with this talk of so-called “people” who don’t have phones.

                  You might as well be talking about sea monsters and unicorns.

          • tsmithfield 14.1.1.2.2

            “I can imagine it, do you know why? Because that’s exactly how it works now you dimwit. You’re talking about taking a telephone call and adding video. zOMFG the efficiency.”

            You are the dimwit, you dimwit. The great advantage of having video is that the person on the other end can talk you through a document etc, point things out, explain them etc in a way that can’t be done over the phone alone. In most respects it is the same as a face to face meeting.

            “We’ve done all that. We’ve banked those efficiency gains. All you’re talking about is tweaking around the edges and you’re so embarrassingly out of touch you don’t even know that’s what you’re doing.”

            At the moment this sort of thing tends to happen within/between businesses. However, there is no reason that it can’t be extended to the general public. I agree the technology itself is fairly rudimentary. However, it is the application of it on a wide scale that will generate efficiencies.

            • McFlock 14.1.1.2.2.1

              You are the dimwit, you dimwit. The great advantage of having video is that the person on the other end can talk you through a document etc, point things out, explain them etc in a way that can’t be done over the phone alone. In most respects it is the same as a face to face meeting.

              The important point being “most”, not “all respects”. That’s why videoconferencing still hasn’t replaced real conferences or face to face meetings, except where travel costs become prohibitive.
                 
              With several government departments and companies, I’ve noticed that IT substitutesfor face to face meetings with case managers seem to be more about limiting contact with the client, rather than enhancing it.
               
               

            • felix 14.1.1.2.2.2

              “You are the dimwit, you dimwit. The great advantage of having video is that the person on the other end can talk you through a document etc, point things out, explain them etc in a way that can’t be done over the phone alone. In most respects it is the same as a face to face meeting.”

              Oh bullshit. You started out evangelising about the great paradigm shift, the quantum leap just around the corner, and now the best example you can come up with is being able to look at a document on a screen while someone on a video call talks you through it instead of looking at the exact same document in your hand while someone on an audio call talks you through it.

              With every comment, tsmithfield, you show how grossly out of touch you are with the things ordinary people do every day.

            • lprent 14.1.1.2.2.3

              I’ve been using Skype since it got released for remote work. I sometimes use the audio, and rarely use the video. Mostly I use it for instant messaging and immediate file transfers for person to person work. I use voice and even video when doing conferencing, but that is mostly for the benefit of the people who recently shifted to digital.

              I ran programming teams remotely from 1997 to 2006. Since then I have been dealing more with hardware that puts me onsite. There are definite advantages and disadvantages to the different techniques.

              Video is the least effective technique unless you want to spend time dealing with the tech issues and examining people’s expressions of boredom. Voice is good for brainstorming allied with IM. You can also use voice to get together on the same page (if you can’t meet in person) but brevity is usually the key because it rapidly winds up like a political meeting – one person droning at a time.

              Instant messaging is the most efficient for working together on something. Email is the best when you want to have a considered discussion on design.

              But in all cases, like all communication techniques, it is a learned skill to do each effectively. I can’t see the efficiency gains in making someone who is functionally tech illiterate to use hardware, software, and communications techniques that they don’t know. Clearly whoever thought this up hasn’t spent enough time explaining how use tech to aged parents or the technophobic. I also can’t see the quired skill levels in the frontline public service to make it work effectively.

        • Vicky32 14.1.1.3

          Imagine in the not too distant future that if you need to go and see WINZ for example, or talk to IRD, you just connect on to Skype at a time convenient to you for a face-to-face meeting.
          During the meeting, you need to sign a form. The form is scanned across to you where you sign it, scan it and return it. Any necessary identification such as licences, birth certificates etc can be scanned and sent across, or downloaded through secure links at the various government departments. An automatic filing system checks and stores the information rather than having admin people do it manually.

          Yeah, that’s going to happen, because all people applying for benefits have broadband, and their own faxes and scanners to hand… 😀 Businessmen who do have these things, already can do this – or get their admin people to do it for them (as my own experience in admin shows, bosses actually have minions to take care of the minutiae… )

          • tsmithfield 14.1.1.3.1

            Computers are becoming like fridges/microwaves. More and more they are becoming basic essentials of life. Due to their quick devaluation due to new models continually appearing, it is quite possible for even a poor family to pick up a second-hand computer that is quite adequate for not very much.

            Printer/scanners can often be picked up for less than the cost of the cartridges these days, so there is not much cost there. A basic broadband plan isn’t that expensive and the costs will come down further. Also, it is possible to prepay for broadband which would enable even poor people to use it for necessities.

            • Colonial Viper 14.1.1.3.1.1

              Get real mate, for lots of families the last $40 left at the end of a month is going on food for the kids and power to stay warm, not a broadband plan.

              • tsmithfield

                As I mentioned above, there will still be a need for some physical offices for those who can’t afford broadband. But we won’t need as many of them.

                • Jackal

                  Is that because people who can’t afford cellphones, printers, scanners and broadband can afford to travel further tsmithfield?

                  • tsmithfield

                    Last time I looked, bus fares weren’t that expensive.

                    • Jackal

                      Many poor areas don’t have buses. But that’s OK because your brave new world isn’t about creating equality is it?

                    • tsmithfield

                      If their income depends on it, they will find a way to get there.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Just makes life that much more unliveable though, doesn’t it. Wastes time and energy jumping through more and more pointless unproductive hoops.

            • Vicky32 14.1.1.3.1.2

              Also, it is possible to prepay for broadband which would enable even poor people to use it for necessities.

              Oi, Marie Antoinette, get real! The cheapest prepay broadband plan I’ve seen advertised, is $75.00 a month. For an individual on UB ($180-200 a week depending on previous ‘debts’) that’s not affordable, when you take food/rent/power/phone etc into account. Even with a cheap rent courtesy of HNZ, I still end up in deficit every week and I am very lucky indeed to have this rotten dump to live in. I have a computer because my late brother gave it to us and scanner, printer etc for the same reason.

        • hateatea 14.1.1.4

          You are assuming, of course, that the government will have ensured that every home will have the requisite computer, scanner / printer as well as broadband internet, I presume?

          I hope that the government will be providing this so that beneficiaries will be able to interact with the few humans still employed as civil servants 😉
           

        • Populuxe1 14.1.1.5

          In Nineteen Eight-Four, they called them telescreens… Just sayin’

      • Pascal's bookie 14.1.2

        That’s great. Everyone loves efficiency, it’s completely non-controversial.

        The point though, is that you don’t know that skype and what-have-you will pay for the hole created bythe tax cut.

        Maybe the reorganisations this government are doing will make the system more efficient. Maybe they won’t. It’s been known to happen before.

        They might even be able to close the budget hole, but find that their reorganised public sector cannot fulfill the expectations the public has about government. In this case, exactly as in a case where they can’t find the savings to fill the budget hole, then all they have achieved is a false economy. All that will have to happen is that we will have to raise taxes and fix the expectation gap, and pay the interest on the borrowing.

        I think it’s ridiculous to calim that it is idealistic to say that taxes should be cut, only when you are sure the govt doesn’t actually need the money.

        • Colonial Viper 14.1.2.1

          What’s truly efficient is an economy which doesn’t need most of its workers any longer.

          Guess how long that’s going to work for.

          • RedLogix 14.1.2.1.1

            That is an interesting question. I don’t think it’s so much a case of ‘not needing it’s workers anymore’… as the nature of what we think of as work. And what value we place on it.

            Much of what we thought of as work 200 years ago, simply isn’t done anymore. Even my grandfather who was born in the 1880’s would barely recognise what I do for a living. It will be much the same for my grandchildren.

            It’s partly why a lot of traditional left-wing rhetoric doesn’t get the traction it used to.

            • Colonial Viper 14.1.2.1.1.1

              It will be much the same for my grandchildren.

              Since I subscribe to the idea that our civilisation is entering ever steepening energy depletion, I suggest that the work your grandchildren (and probably more so your great grandchildren) end up doing will actually be far more recognisable by your grandfather, than your work is.

          • tsmithfield 14.1.2.1.2

            Resources are freed up to be used elsewhere. My company is involved in automation. We have liberated many workers from monotonous jobs such as screwing bottle tops onto bottles etc. Hopefully those workers have now found more interesting, meaningful things to do.

            • Colonial Viper 14.1.2.1.2.1

              Hopefully those workers have now found more interesting, meaningful things to do.

              Like going to Australia.

            • RedLogix 14.1.2.1.2.2

              And I am an automation engineer ts. I’ve spent 35 years changing the nature of work. This has been a double-edged sword.

              Yes the resources have been liberated to free up people to do more meaningful things. Labour productivity has doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in many industries. Lot’s of mindless, soul-destroying jobs are now done by my machines, and that is a good thing.

              But unfortunately the capitalist economic system has captured almost all the gains from this productivity increase into a uber-wealthy elite. Most people got left out…. and that my friend is where I part company.

              • tsmithfield

                Don’t know if I agree with you. Up until the recent recession, unemployment has been very low, despite the increasing automation of systems. Therefore, it seems people are finding more interesting and rewarding things to do.

                • RedLogix

                  No not all those jobs are all that rewarding or interesting.

                  A job is not the same a good employment. While labour productivity has been soaring…. real incomes have stagnated and below the median have gone backwards.

                • Colonial Viper

                  Unemployment was low because the economy was being flooded with debt based credit.

                  Your assertion that people have found more interesting and rewarding things to do is the silver lining side of people having to settle for menial low wage jobs beneath their experience and training.

            • Draco T Bastard 14.1.2.1.2.3

              Hopefully those workers have now found more interesting, meaningful things to do.

              The median wage of ~$30k would indicate that this isn’t true.

            • Populuxe1 14.1.2.1.2.4

              The capitalist reality is that mechanisation just creates more unemployment, not leisure.

        • tsmithfield 14.1.2.2

          “They might even be able to close the budget hole, but find that their reorganised public sector cannot fulfill the expectations the public has about government. In this case, exactly as in a case where they can’t find the savings to fill the budget hole, then all they have achieved is a false economy.”

          Need drives innovation. Look at history. That is why it is important to reduce the funding first. Government organisations then have the need to innovate to provide the same services for less money.

          • RedLogix 14.1.2.2.1

            No.. if the organisation I work for starved me of cash, the innovation would cease tommorrow.

            • tsmithfield 14.1.2.2.1.1

              In that case your role would probably be disestablished and it would be contracted out to someone else who is a bit more motivated to innovate.

              • McFlock

                All that rigmarole for want of paying a decent wage in the first place…

                • tsmithfield

                  I probably would contract that sort of role out anyway. Less conflict of interest that way.

                  • RedLogix

                    For the first two years I was contracting my current role. I got plenty of ‘jobs’ done, but as a contractor I was fundamentally disconnected from the decision making process and it all lacked cohesion and strategy.

                    As a result much of the work I did was of limited value and when the opportunity came along to join the organisation I did so. Huge gains at every level.

                    Contracting out, unless it is very carefully managed, or relates to a very specific expertise… is almost always very poor value for money. This is 35 years of experience talking.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      ts doesn’t get the idea that a loyal soldier will do far more for his nation than a gun for hire.

                    • tsmithfield

                      We contract to a lot of our customers. We are motivated to do well for them because they will terminate the contract if we don’t perform. Also, poor performance is very bad for our reputation in the market.

                    • RedLogix

                      Oh you may think you are performing… but in reality you are on the outside. You aren’t making the important decisions. Or if you are, then I’d have to ask who ‘owns’ this business.

                      And if your customer arbitrarily decides he needs your job doing ‘cheaper’… then you’re as disposable as toilet paper.

                    • Jassen

                      Just a quick question Mr Red. 35 years experience in what sounds like a pretty good job. You must have benefited quite nicely from the last round of tax cuts me thinks.

                      Where are you donating this ill gotten money to?

                  • Colonial Viper

                    Jassen. What right do you have to even ask. Who do you think you are.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      He’s just a typical RWNJ troll trying desperately to divert away from the points that show his beliefs to be wrong.

                    • Jassen

                      I have every right to ask any question I like. I read all of these blogs with interest because I find politics on both sides of the spectrum really interesting. I try not to comment on here because you just get attacked and called names. Nasty politics. Feels like kindergarten at times really.

                      But my point is, Mr Red and others on here, harp on about the tax cuts for the rich, but it sounds like he should be on a pretty good wicket himself, and I suspect you are too Viper, so I find it hypocritical, when you probably also benefited nicely from the tax cuts.

                      And for Draco, you have absolutely no fucking chance of ever knowing what my beliefs are, so how would you know they are wrong? Wanker.

                    • lprent []

                      So? The mere fact that some dumbarse national politicians made a completely stupid set of tax decisions that benefited people like me doesn’t mean that we can’t see it was the decision made by fools. Sure it won them the 2008 election. It was still the wrong decision even before the financial meltdown.

                      Hell I opposed Cullen’s tax cuts. I’d preferred that the tax cut debate wasn’t one. It should have been about how to put regular adjustments into the income thresholds.

                      I haven’t read what the others have commented thus far. But on the basis of this single comment, you do look like ill informed and who needs to read more to understand the actual issues. If you get upset about being called on what you say complete with others opinions on you, then I suspect it is more a defensive reaction on your part to avoid displaying your ignorance.

                    • RedLogix

                      I try not to comment on here because you just get attacked and called names.

                      Followed up by:

                      And for Draco, you have absolutely no fucking chance of ever knowing what my beliefs are, so how would you know they are wrong? Wanker.

                      Mate you are off to a bad start here.

                      Besides if you don’t want to tell us what your beliefs are… then I feel less than zero obligation to tell you what I do with my income.

                    • felix

                      Why do right-wingers have so much trouble with this?

                      They’re always trying to imply that if you advocate for policy that might hurt you personally but benefit others then you’re a hypocrite of some sort, when by definition nothing could be be further from the truth.

                      Perhaps the very idea that a person wouldn’t act entirely selfishly at all times is so foreign to them that their reptilian alarm bells go off whenever they encounter it.

                      They never seem to be able to clearly state what the problem with not being a selfish prick is, but they just know that something isn’t right, dammit.

                    • Felix, how many rightwingers do you think fit your description “the very idea that a person wouldn’t act entirely selfishly at all times is so foreign to them”?

                      Do you think left wingers always act entirely unselfishly? Or are they all a perfect balance?

                    • McFlock

                      Pete, the difference between right wingers and left wingers is that left wingers try not to be selfish dicks. Right wingers aspire for it to be their profession.
                         
                       

              • Jackal

                Motivated while being starved of cash… good luck getting innovation out of that equation.

  15. North 15

    Really tsmithfield, I’ve been watching you getting more and more and more ridiculous in your propositions and responses. Cheap computers and scanners indeed. What a load of bollocks !

    The sophistry (I won’t say intellectual dishonesty) of your “let’s assume…..” (a fictional base to allow you to go on mouthing what you “want” to mouth), really has you sounding like someone who’s been caught out and knows he’s been caught out.

    Add to that a dispositional stubborness and an embarrassingly heavy prior commitment to the “imperative of austerity” lie, well, you’re incapable of acknowledging. Even when the lie is palpable.

    Get real mate. You are abysmally ignorant of the practicalities and forced logistics of the real lives of a vast number of New Zealand citizens. Underlying pomposity, inferential pejorative and judgment, ultimately your mad old wives’ tales about how folk might best “overcome….” – truly pathetic !

  16. Pascal's bookie 16

    ts’ plan, as stated here, is “Borrow and hope”.

  17. KJT 17

    The problem. Private debt.
     
    The answer. Increase private debt.
     
    LOL.
     
    By cutting public spending so tax payers have to pay more for the same services. AND selling assets to the private sector.  Mom and Pop investors are not going to borrow to buy shares. Of course.

  18. Tc 18

    The RWNJ twist themselves into all shapes justifying the Nats wrecking ball approach to nz.

    If you get to operate a well run business, good income, solid assets, no debt which was what they inherited in 08 of course you punch a hole in your revenue, bail out mates and borrow to keep the business paying its debts…..natonomics, at best it’s irresponsible but sadly for nz I fear this lot are wilfully selling us out in a very premeditated manner.

    They’re not stupid just totally uninterested in fairness and equity, more for us, f the rest.

  19. Kotahi Tane Huna 19

    Treasury has appointed an external panel of experts, chaired by Victoria University’s Bob Buckle, to test its analysis of the Crown’s long-term fiscal position.

    Professor Buckle chaired the 2009 tax working group that led to the Government’s tax switch that saw personal taxes cut and GST rise to 15 per cent.”

    Conflict of interest much?

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    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
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    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
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    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
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    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
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
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    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
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    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
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    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
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    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
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
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    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
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    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’
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    5 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
    5 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
    10 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
    24 hours 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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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
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    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
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    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
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    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
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    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
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    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
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    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
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    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
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    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
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    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
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    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
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    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
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    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
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    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
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    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
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    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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