On Hickey on tax cuts

Written By: - Date published: 7:16 am, April 11th, 2011 - 24 comments
Categories: economy, tax - Tags: ,

Last year Fran O’Sullivan came clean on National’s tax cuts:

But all the elaborate dancing on the head of the proverbial pin does not disguise the raw reality that English’s billion-dollar bet that his Budget tax-go-round would turbo-charge New Zealand’s economic growth has (so far) proved to be a fizzer.

Now Bernard Hickey has weighed in with his verdict: “Simply put, it’s not working”. Leading up to this conclusion, Hickey sets out the clearest explanation that I have seen of the “theory” behind the tax cuts:

Deeper into mire as tax reforms fail

Back in May last year when the Government announced the biggest tax reforms since the mid-1980s there was plenty of hope. The theory looked good. Cutting the top income tax rate from 39 per cent to 33 per cent seemed to kill three birds with one stone.

Good, three birds, let’s have them:

It encouraged those on middle incomes to strive for higher incomes in the knowledge they would keep more of it.

Sorry, that’s bollocks. Those on middle incomes strive for higher incomes because striving for higher incomes is pretty much what most of us do. If you’re chasing a thousand dollar raise the $60 variation between one tax rate and another is chickenfeed. Does the gap between a $610 net increase and $670 really make a difference to anyone’s motivation? A difference that we can measure in the economy? If so, please show me the proof.

It removed the gap between the top income tax rate and the family trust rate, closing down a big loophole.

If that is supposed to be an argument for growth then it’s bollocks again. Removing that gap stimulates the economy how precisely? If tax avoidance is a problem then fix tax avoidance. If you want the family trust rate aligned with the top tax rate then why not raise the family trust rate? Closes the same loophole.

And those on higher incomes could afford to save their extra disposable income, which would boost New Zealand’s savings rate and give capital markets a kick-start.

That’s not obviously bollocks, but it was pretty clear that the option of saving was going to be competing with two (sadly more compelling) other options. First, paying of debt, and second, buying cheap imported shiny plastic junk. Once again, where is the data on this? Historically what do the middle class do with tax cut windfalls? My guess is that savings and productive investment in capital markets isn’t as big an effect as we would like.

In short, I’m very glad that Hickey set out the “theory” behind the income tax cut. But I find it utterly unconvincing. Tax cuts don’t cause growth. Instead, Nationals cuts favour the rich, increasing the socially damaging inequalities in our country, as well as (obviously) starving the government of income.

On the rest of the Nats tax package, Hickey continues:

The increase in the GST rate was designed to help pay for the cut and discourage consumption, therefore encouraging saving.

The changes to the rules on claiming depreciation of buildings for tax purposes and the removal of Loss Attributing Qualifying Companies (LAQCs) as a vehicle for rental property investors were supposed to take some heat out of the property market, and force investors to look at other options.

The company tax cut was supposed to encourage companies to invest here and employ more people. All these would bring down the budget deficit and transform the economy from a consuming and borrowing junkie into an investing and exporting powerhouse.

Simply put, it’s not working.

The shock of the GST increase, on top of rising food and petrol prices, has forced consumers deeper into their spending shells. GST has hurt a swathe of society that could least afford it. Companies are shedding staff. The tax cuts for those on higher salaries has not been saved and invested in job-creating export industries. Instead, it is being geared up with yet more foreign-supplied mortgage debt. …

The Government would say it’s too early to judge the tax package and also point to the effect of the Christchurch quake on the economy. But the early signs aren’t good. It’s worth asking again: what was it all for?

Come on Bernard, your last question was far too easy. What was it all for? To shift wealth from the poor to the rich. It’s a National government. Same as it ever was.

Update (lprent): Bernard says

This final paragraph was cut out of the column I sent to the Herald. Which answered my own question.

“We have a higher budget deficit, higher debt, weaker growth, a weaker current account deficit and higher unemployment. But a certain section of New Zealand is now much richer in both income and wealth through a tax cut and higher property prices. ”

And here is the piece in full undedited technicolor over here…

 

24 comments on “On Hickey on tax cuts ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. marsman 1
    11 April 2011 at 8:22 am

    Double Dipper Bill English,Double Fail Minister of Finance.

  2. mickysavage 2
    11 April 2011 at 8:48 am

    Good post Rob.

    It is time to review the great lie of the 2010 budget, that tax cuts would cause a “macronomic effect” which would stimulate the economy and increase the tax cut.  Not only is the theory bogus but the addition of a line item in the budget to then claim that the tax cuts were fiscally neutral is also a lie.

    12 months down the line it seems that things are getting worse, not better.

    There is now a greater more pressing need to review and IMHO reverse the cuts.

    • Bored 2.1
      11 April 2011 at 9:04 am

      It’s the old hoary “trickle down” theory all over again with the same result, give the rich more and they will take even more.

    • Herodotus 2.2
      11 April 2011 at 9:25 am

      MS would you also reduce GST back to 12.5%? Because without the 2nd all you are doing is making life more difficult for kiwis to live. Funny thing when we hear of tax changes from an opposuition we never also hear of reversing where the govt increases its take. Rememebr tax creep and the stingy M.Cullen with his tax cuts … oh was that because his new tax that was to eat more into our take home pay than the cuts were to deliver were not supported. 

  3. Colonial Viper 3
    11 April 2011 at 8:52 am

    Historically what do the middle class do with tax cut windfalls? My guess is that savings and productive investment in capital markets isn’t as big an effect as we would like.
     

    NAT tax cuts weren’t aimed at the middle class (those earning $50K to $80K p.a.). They were aimed at the top 5% of the population, those on $90K p.a. plus.
     
    And those are people who engage professional investment advice, use brokerages etc.
     
    That tax cut money flows straight into property investments (useless for creating productive enterprise but great for making housing more unaffordable and jacking up mortgage debts) and also to offshore capital markets (because you have to be a sucker to put your money in the NZX, instead of the ASX or Singapore shares).

  4. vto 4
    11 April 2011 at 8:54 am

    Hickey is a lightweight and never particularly stimulating. Always a follower of commentary, not a leader of such or a developer of new ideas. Runs a good website so I’ve heard though.
     
    Nonetheless, another tack for the nat coffin. Latest polls seem to suggest further droopage for them is imminent too.

    • sean 4.1
      11 April 2011 at 9:42 am

      Okay, so the general consensus here is that taxing less is not the way to kick start the economy, and doesn’t provide incentives for people to work harder.
       
      So how about some suggestions for what should be done?  The last Labour government rode an economy based on a house of cards built from debt, and a bloated public sector creating the illusion of high unemployment.  That approach didn’t work either.
       

      • Sam 4.1.1
        12 April 2011 at 1:41 pm

        Well said Sean. Hickey makes perfect sense but being a swing voter I voted for the Nats because it was a convincing economic plan. If u dont like it fair enough but once we have American bipartisanship like I just read we’re all screwed.

  5. Steve Withers 5
    11 April 2011 at 9:04 am

    The tax cuts, for me are just one more example of the dangers inherent in faith-based economic policy in particular and faith-based policy making generally.  The Nats are genuine in the sense they (except for the cynical ones who know better) really, truly believe these polices will work. That they don’t doesn’t appear to dent their faith. It just means they need to pray …um….try harder. 

    What annoys me is National are thus rendered poor stewards of our publicly owned assets. Instead of enhancing their value, they are degrading their value…with the stated goal of flogging them off at some point – when they can get away with it. Of course they would be flogged off to people who would naturally support National – or parties like National globally. It amounts to little more than theft.

    From climate change to energy to urban development to taxation to public transport….National is headed full speed into the past, the wrong direction…and WASTING billions of our increasingly scarce dollars in doing it.

    On top of that, they are touting NZ as a low-wage economy to overseas investors….revealing their policy of wage parity with Australia to be more manure for the dumb voters who are suckered by the “Nice Mr. Key” and his crew of scammers.

  6. Afewknowthetruth 6
    11 April 2011 at 9:43 am

    The problem is not that tax cut theory is bollocks, but that the entire economic system is bollocks.

    1. Create money out of thin air via loans.
    2. Create the money for loans but not the money to meet interest payments, which then come from dilution of money already in the system, i.e. create inflation.
    3. Make the system dependent on perpetual growth when living on a finite planet on which perpetual growth is a mathematical impossibility.
    4. Make the system almost totally dependent on a resource we have very little of and which is now in worldwide decline, i.e. oil.
    5.Make the system entirely dependent on destruction of the habitability of the planet we live on via pollution.

    It’s only  matter of time now. We may have ten years before it all goes kaput. We may have just a few months.

    I’m sure the elites know the system is doomed, which is why they are looting the till quickly and buying gold etc. before it does all go under.

    • Shane Gallagher 6.1
      11 April 2011 at 10:09 am

      Dude – chill out and then read some money theory… Money is “trust” – that is all it is in the end. Is trust a finite thing? No, it is nothing tangible. So in essence money is not tangible. 

      Yes we need to move to a sustainable economy so I agree with points 3-5. The current model needs growth to sustain employment and when it experiences a shock then the drivers of growth also drive the recession. We need to change the economic model – and I do not hear anyone on the Labour side even thinking about that let alone formulating policy around the idea. Stuck in the 20th century, just like NACT are stuck in the 19th century.

      Oh and when is Labour going to stop self-destructing?- I just saw the headline on stuff(fox wants you to know).co.nz Just curious?

      • Carol 6.1.1
        11 April 2011 at 10:20 am

        Oh and when is Labour going to stop self-destructing?- I just saw the headline on stuff(fox wants you to know).co.nz Just curious?

        And yet Labour & Goff’s percentage went up in the latest Colmar Brunton.  Meanwhile, none of the MSM are headlining the spat within National over the Rodney selection as presented on The Nation this week; religious fundies & South African, violence-disposed, white supremacist refugees from the post-Apartheid era stacking the National selection process with people from their churches – and exposoing friction and factionalism within the Nats.

      • Afewknowthetruth 6.1.2
        11 April 2011 at 10:46 am

        Shane.

        Money is more than trust. It is a medium of exchange for resources and energy. The trust aspect is that it will be exchangeable for goods or energy in the future. The people of Argentina found out how trustworthy money was a decade ago. Zimbabwe a little later. Money can very quickly become valueless, as we are seeing when we go shopping these days.

        Since we cannot get resources without energy (without energy nothing happens), it all comes down to money being an accepted medium for the purchase of FUTURE supplies of energy. That becomes quite a problem if the anticipated future supplies do not exist (which they don’t).

        It is interesting that Portugal is now on the same slippery slope as Ireleand and Greece, with the government digging a deeper hole for the people by the day. Unable to repay loans and forced to take out ever bigger loans to keep the economy afloat just a little longer, but having no significant energy supplies  they have to import the energy needed to maintian economic activity at ever higher cost. The whole thing will spiral out of control until a default occurs, at which point the economy will grind to a halt because there won’t be the energy (oil) needed to maintian economic activity. Spain looks like the next major nation to go under: 20% unemployment and a collapsing property market  -the inevitable consequence of bubble economics.  

        That is exactly where the present government is taking NZ, of course, though NZ is not as far down the track as a lot of countries. However,  NZ is spending the last of its international credit worthiness on ridiculous projects like sports arenas, artworks and motorways, and on imports of gas-guzzling vehicles, motorboats etc.     

        One thing has become fvery clear to me. They’ll just keep doing it till they can’t, whether its the government, the local council or ordinary people.

  7. Rich 7
    11 April 2011 at 10:00 am

    Something that I’ve not seen pointed out is that the most popular form of “saving” by affluent NZers, rental property <strike>speculation</strike> investment, actually works out as net borrowing.

    If I have $100k and put it on term depo or buy shares with it, that’s savings.

    If I have the same $100k and put it down as a deposit on a $400k rental property, then I’m borrowing $300k and buying an asset with the $100k. Any capital gain is tax free, so it’s highly efficient tax wise. The only downside is the risk that the price will fall and I’ll be in negative equity, but even in that case, the bank will be very unlikely to foreclose.

    • sean 7.1
      11 April 2011 at 12:34 pm

      Not as simple as you make out Rich…….
       
      If you borrow money to buy shares, yes, they would be CG taxed when you sold them, IF you made a profit.  In theory, your money should be being used as capital to improve the company you invested in.
       
      Buying a property, and not getting CG taxed on it means you keep it for a while – over that while you have to put thousands into it to cover the rates, repairs, maintenance, upgrades (insulation, heating, kitchen, bathroom etc), as well as providing work and income for property managers, lawyers, tradesmen and accountants.  With shares you just sit there and bank the dividends.
       
       

  8. Steve Withers 8
    11 April 2011 at 10:25 am

    sean: For NZ, there isn’t really much that can be done in the short term. What would make sense for the long term would be a huge problem in the short term. The solution I see as being in our long term interest would be to incrementally restore tarriffs in sectors seen as foundations for skills and manufacturing capacity that would support future expansion of the same policy into other sectors. The aim would be to put the economy on an energy and technology footing that makes sense locally, on its own terms. To be more self-sufficient. Why? Because the tyranny of distance will become a greater burden as oil prices climb ever higher in the decades ahead. Both for exporting and for importing. Meanwhile, continue exporting what sells well – and food will always sell well given we’re heading for 9 billion people in the near future globally and the Northern Hemisphere seems intent on risking environmental degradation of otherwise arable land.  We must also reserve agricultural land so we don’t have to requisition it back from under single-family dwellings when urban sprawl has become unsustainable. Another reason for broadening our skills base is to provide opportunities and careers for young people so they can stay here. The current economic polices have severely stunted many careers entirely…literally forcing Kiwis with interests in those area to go overseas to do those things – like manufacturing design and engineering – and since those are declining careers here, they can’t come back.

    But to “kick start” the economy in today’s understanding of it would be difficult and wasteful. China makes everything cheaper than we do, except food…and even there they are moving aggressively to compete in dairy – or just buy ours.

    Also difficult because NZ is sold to people everywhere as a lifestyle choice. People immigrate here to enjoy that better lifestyle. The finer weather. The landscape. The beaches and coasts. They don’t want to  work 80 hours a week. We have invested a HUGE amount of money to attract people who want to just…chill. Secondly, we’re far away and the tyranny of distance will become a greater burden as oil prices climb ever higher in the decades ahead. 

    As long as Kiwis continue to buy into the “global economy” myth…which leaves us with a relatively narrowly based commodity-producing economy largely owned by people who don’t live here, things won’t change.  

    Neither Labour nor National are the party to lead NZ into the future we will face….but the Greens may be. At least they see the problems clearly. The two big parties still – for the most part – are “business as usual” when the writing is clearly on the wall for business as usual.

  9. Galeandra 9
    11 April 2011 at 12:37 pm

    Nice one, Steve. Takes me all the way back to Bill Sutch’s opinions in Colony or Nation and The Responsible Society in NZ. I agreed with them at the time I read them (late 60’s) and much of what goes on globally today  reconfirms my views. Hunkering down as a society in the sense of self-sufficiency is entirely sensible. We don’t want to many rich kiwitwits from Swissbanksville to join our reverse diaspora though. 

  10. Bernard Hickey 10
    11 April 2011 at 12:45 pm

    Cheers ROB

    This final paragraph was cut out of the column I sent to the Herald. Which answered my own question.

    “We have a higher budget deficit, higher debt, weaker growth, a weaker current account deficit and higher unemployment. But a certain section of New Zealand is now much richer in both income and wealth through a tax cut and higher property prices. ”

    And here is the piece in full undedited technicolor over here…
    http://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/52986/opinion-bernard-hickey-argues-last-years-tax-package-failing-transform-nz-so-far-it-ha

    cheers

    • r0b 10.1
      11 April 2011 at 1:13 pm

      Hi Bernard – thanks for stopping by.  I’m enjoying your columns a lot.

      Interesting that the Herald cut your final paragraph!

    • sean 10.2
      11 April 2011 at 1:45 pm

      Its all very well to criticise – how about a bit of work on how you think our country can get out of this?

      • Colonial Viper 10.2.1
        11 April 2011 at 1:58 pm

        Maybe you should follow your own advice instead of being such an asshole and do a bit of work to answer your own question e.g.
         
        http://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/52908/opinion-bernard-hickey-details-5-solutions-turn-around-nz-incs-slide-penury-through-fo

        • sean 10.2.1.1
          11 April 2011 at 2:12 pm

          Because Bernard Hickey is [mind your manners sean] for evaluating the merits of tax cuts after they’ve only been in for 6 months.
           
          What school does he come from where economic policies can impact the economy in a few months?  If that was possible economies around the world should all be booming, if all it takes is a few months to completely change things. [Probably the same school as Bill English and John Key, who promised that the package would trigger an “aggressive recovery” and bring us “roaring out of recession”. — r0b]
           
          I’m not going to look up his other articles when his analysis for the tax cuts failure was that more 800k+ properties are being sold in Auckland than previously and that someone at a bank told him more big income earners are over leveraging themselves.
           
          Total clown.

  11. sean 11
    11 April 2011 at 2:08 pm

    I think its pretty hilarious Bernard Hickey claiming the tax cuts are a failure after only 6 months.  Since when has an economic policy been able to be judged on its merits after only 6 months of being in action, and not even through one tax return cycle yet?
     
    His proof was that more 800k+ properties are being sold in Auckland and because someone told him that high income earners are approaching banks to over leverage themselves because of their 6 cents in the dollar tax windfalls.  Yep – 6 cents in the dollar is enough to make me go running to the bank and ask for more money so I can negatively gear myself.
     
    Thats about the deepest and most complete analysis I’ve ever seen on the state of the economy, thanks Bernard.  Hickey is still smarting that his claim of a 40% across the board collapse in house prices never came to fruition.  He ended up looking like a total clown.  This just reinforces it further.

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    Yesterday, I ruminated about the effects of being a political follower.And, within politics, David Seymour was smart enough on Friday to divert attention from “race blind” policies [what about gender blind I thought - thinking of maternity wards] and cutting school lunches by throwing meat to the media. Teachers were ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • A warm embrace

    Far, far away from here lives our King. Some of his subjects can be quite the forelock tuggers, but plenty of us are not like that, and why don't I wheel out my favourite old story once more about Kiwi soldiers in the North African desert?Field Marshal Montgomery takes offence ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Literal clowns are running the place, we must put a timeout on this stupidity… right Aotearoa?

    These people are inept on every level. They’re inept to the detriment of our internal politics, cohesion and increasingly our international reputation. And they are reveling in the fact they are getting away with it. We cannot even have “respectful debate” with a government that clearly rejects the very ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    4 days ago
  • Fact brief – Does manmade CO2 have any detectable fingerprint?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • Judge Not.

    Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
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    4 days ago
  • Managed Democracy: Letting The People Decide, But Only When They Can Be Relied Upon To Give the Righ...

    Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens! The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago
  • Looking For Labour’s Vital Signs.

    Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago
  • Forty Years Of Remembering To Forget.

    The Beginning of the End: Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago
  • Kōrero Mai – Speak to Me.

    Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
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    5 days ago
  • Winning ways

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    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • 48 seconds on a plan that would reverberate for a million years

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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Using blunt instruments and magical thinking to ignore evidence of harm

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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Is This A Dagger Which I See Before Me: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power Episode 5 (Seaso...

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    5 days ago
  • In Open Seas; A Book

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    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 13

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
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    5 days ago
  • Do or do not. There is no try

    1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Dangerous ground

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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: National wants to cheat on Paris

    In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Treasury warned Govt lower debt limits meant less ‘productivity-enhancing investment’

    Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. But Luxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Is the Media Complicit?

    This is a long read. Open to all.SYNOPSIS: Traditional media is at a cross roads. There is a need for those in the media landscape, as it stands, to earn enough to stay afloat, but also come across as balanced and neutral to keep its audiences.In America, NYT’s liberal leaning ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • Black Friday

    It's Black Friday, the end of the weekYou take my hand and hold it gently up against your cheekIt's all in my head, it's all in my mindI see the darkness where you see the lightSong by Tom OdellFriday the 13th, don’t be afraid.No, really, don’t. Everything has felt a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 13-September-2024

    Ooh, Friday the thirteenth. Spooky! Is that why certain zombie ideas have been stalking the landscape this week, like the Mayor’s brainwave for a motorway bridge from Kauri Point to Point Chev? Read on and find out. This roundup, like all our coverage, is brought to you by the Greater ...
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    6 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37 2024

    Open access notables Early knowledge but delays in climate actions: An ecocide case against both transnational oil corporations and national governments, Hauser et al., Environmental Science & Policy: Cast within the wide context of investigating the collusion at play between powerful political-economic actors and decision-makers as monopolists and debates about ‘the modern ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • What it is

    I liked what Kieran McAnulty had to say about the Treaty Principles bill this morning so much I've written it down and copied it out for you. He was saying that rather than let this piece of ordure spend six months in Select Committee, the Prime Minister could stop making such ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • A government-funded hate campaign

    Cabinet discussed National's constitutionally and historically illiterate "Treaty Principles Bill" this week, and decided to push on with it. The bill will apparently receive a full six month select committee process - unlike practically every other policy this government has pushed, and despite the fact that if the government is ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • How Substack works to take (some) craziness out of America’s elections

    I spoke with Substack co-founder yesterday, just before the Trump-Harris debate, about how Substack is doing its thing during the US elections. He talks in particular about how Substack’s focus on paid subscriptions rather than ads has made political debate on the platform calmer, simpler, deeper and more satisfying ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • David Seymour is such a loser

    For paid subscribersNot content with siphoning off $230,000,000 of taxpayers money for his hobby projects - and telling everyone his passion is education and early childcare - an intersection painfully coincidental to the interests of wealthy private families like Sean Plunkett’s1 backers, the Wright Family, Seymour is back in the ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    7 days ago
  • Cross-party consensus: there’s no pipeline without good faith

    There’s been a lot of talk recently about a cross-party agreement to develop a pipeline for infrastructure, including transport. Last month, outgoing CRL boss Sean Sweeney talked about the importance of securing an enduring infrastructure programme. He outlined the high costs of the relentless political flip-flopping of priorities, which drives ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    7 days ago
  • Voters love this climate policy they’ve never heard of

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The Inflation Reduction Act is the Biden administration’s signature climate law and the largest U.S. government investment in reducing climate pollution to date. Among climate advocates, the policy is well-known and celebrated, but beyond that, only a minority of Americans ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago
  • ACC wants to administer inflation at more than double the RBNZ’s target rate

    ACC levies are set to rise at more than double the inflation rate targeted by the RBNZ. Photo: Lynn GrievesonKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 12:The state-owned monopoly for accident insurance wants ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Harris vs Trump

    We’ve been selected to rock your asses 'til midnightThis is my term, I've shaved off my perm, but it's alrightI solemnly swear to uphold the ConstitutionGot a rock 'n' roll problem? Well we got a solutionLet us be who we am, and let us kick out the jams, yeahKick out ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Treaty Bill “a political stunt”

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon appears to have given ACT Leader David Seymour more than he has been admitting in the proposals to go forward with a Treaty Principles Bill.All along, Luxon has maintained that the Government is proceeding with the Bill to honour the coalition agreement.But that is quite specific.It ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 days ago
  • An average 219 NZers migrated each day in July

    Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 11:Annual migration of New Zealanders rose to a record-high 80,963 in the year to the end of July, which is more than double its pre-Covid levels.Two ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • What you’re wanting to win more than anything is The Narrative

    Hubris is sitting down on election day 2016 to watch that pig Trump get his ass handed to him, and watching the New York Times needle hover for a while over Hillary and then move across to Trump where it remains all night to your gathering horror and dismay. You're ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • National’s automated lie machine

    The government has a problem: lots of people want information from it all the time. Information about benefits, about superannuation, ACC coverage and healthcare, taxes, jury service, immigration - and that's just the routine stuff. Responding to all of those queries takes a lot of time and costs a lot ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Christopher Luxon: A Man of “Faith” and “Compassion” Speaks on the Treaty Pr...

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    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Member’s Day

    Today is a Member's Day. First up is the third reading of Dan Bidois' Fair Trading (Gift Card Expiry) Amendment Bill, which will be followed by the committee stage of Deborah Russell's Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill. This will be followed by the second readings of Katie ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Northern Expressway Boondoggle

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    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    1 week ago
  • Never Enough

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  • Question Two of The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50)

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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Why is God Obsessed with Spanking?

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    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • Inside the public service

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    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • New Models Show Stronger Atlantic Hurricanes, and More of Them

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    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago
  • Where ever do they find these people?

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    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Foreign Minister to travel to New York, French Polynesia

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is travelling to New York next week to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, followed by a visit to French Polynesia. “In the context of the myriad regional and global crises, our engagements in New York will demonstrate New Zealand’s strong support for ...
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    9 hours ago
  • Thanking social workers on their national day

    “Today, on Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day, I would like to recognise the tremendous effort social workers make not just today, but every day,” Children’s Minister and Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour says. “I thank all those working on the front line for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Minister of State for Trade heads to Laos for ASEAN meetings

    Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg will travel to Laos this week to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers’ Meetings in Vientiane.   “The Government is committed to strengthening our relationship with ASEAN,” Ms Grigg says. “With next year marking 50 years since New Zealand became ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Members appointed to retail crime MAG

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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation AGM and Conference 2024

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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • Improvements for New Zealand authors

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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Minister commends Police for gang operation

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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New appointments to the EPA board

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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Enabling rural recovery works in Hawke’s Bay

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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • FamilyBoost childcare payment registrations open

    From today, low-to-middle-income families with young children can register for the new FamilyBoost payment, to help them meet early childhood education (ECE) costs. The scheme was introduced as part of the Government’s tax relief plan to help Kiwis who are doing it tough. “FamilyBoost is one of the ways we ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Prioritising victims with tougher sentences

    The Government has today agreed to introduce sentencing reforms to Parliament this week that will ensure criminals face real consequences for crime and victims are prioritised, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. "In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Targets data confirms rise in violent crime

    The first quarterly report on progress against the nine public service targets show promising results in some areas and the scale of the challenge in others, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “Our Government reinstated targets to focus our public sector on driving better results for New Zealanders in health, education, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Asia Foundation Board appointments announced

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointments of Hone McGregor, Professor David Capie, and John Boswell to the Board of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.  Bede Corry, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has also been appointed as an ex-officio member. The new trustees join Dame Fran Wilde (Chair), ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Endeavour Fund projects for economic growth

    New Zealand’s largest contestable science fund is investing in 72 new projects to address challenges, develop new technology and support communities, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. “This Endeavour Fund round being funded is focused on economic growth and commercial outputs,” Ms Collins says. “It involves funding of more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Social Services Providers Whakamanawa National Conference 16 September 2024

    Thank you for the introduction and the invitation to speak to you here today. I am honoured to be here in my capacity as Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, and Minister for Children. Thank you for creating a space where we can all listen and learn, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Parihaka infrastructure upgrades funded

    The Government will provide a $5.8 million grant to improve water infrastructure at Parihaka in Taranaki, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka say. “This grant from the Regional Infrastructure Fund will have a multitude of benefits for this hugely significant cultural site, including keeping local ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Serious assaults down 22% in Auckland CBD

    Cross-government action to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour in Auckland is getting traction, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “Our central cities should be great places to live and work, but in recent years they have become hot spots for crime and anti-social behaviour. In Auckland, businesses and residents suffered as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Increased certainty for contractors coming

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says upcoming changes to the Employment Relations Act will provide greater certainty for contractors and businesses. “These changes to legislation are necessary to ensure businesses and workers have more clarity from the start of their contracting arrangement. It is an ACT-National coalition ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Draft critical minerals list released for consultation

    A draft list of minerals deemed essential to New Zealand’s economy and strengthening its mineral resilience has been released for consultation, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The draft Critical Minerals List identifies 35 minerals essential to economic functions, are in demand internationally, and face high risk of supply disruption domestically ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government eliminates $190 million in trade barriers to boost the economy

    The Government has successfully removed trade barriers affecting nearly $190 million worth of exports to help grow the economy, Minister for Trade and Agriculture Todd McClay today announced.  “In the past year, we have resolved 14 Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs), returning significant value to kiwi exporters. These efforts directly boost our ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Reo Māori the ‘beating heart’ of Aotearoa New Zealand

    From private business to the Paris Olympics, reo Māori is growing with the success of New Zealanders, says Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka. “I’m joining New Zealanders across the country in celebrating this year’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week, which has a big range ...
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    5 days ago
  • Need and value at forefront of public service delivery

    New Cabinet policy directives will ensure public agencies prioritise public services on the basis of need and award Government contracts on the basis of public value, Minister for the Public Service Nicola Willis says. “Cabinet Office has today issued a circular to central government organisations setting out the Government’s expectations ...
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    6 days ago
  • Minister to attend Police Ministers Council Meeting

    Police Minister Mark Mitchell will join with Australian Police Ministers and Commissioners at the Police Ministers Council meeting (PMC) today in Melbourne. “The council is an opportunity to come together to discuss a range of issues, gain valuable insights on areas of common interest, and different approaches towards law enforcement ...
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    6 days ago
  • New Bill to crack down on youth vaping

    The coalition Government has introduced legislation to tackle youth vaping, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill (No 2) is aimed at preventing youth vaping.  “While vaping has contributed to a significant fall in our smoking rates, the rise in youth vaping ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Interest in agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review welcomed

    Regulation Minister David Seymour, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds, and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard have welcomed interest in the agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review. The review by the Ministry for Regulation is looking at how to speed up the process to get farmers and growers access to the safe, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Bill to allow online charity lotteries passes first reading

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government is moving at pace to ensure lotteries for charitable purposes are allowed to operate online permanently. Charities fundraising online, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and local hospices will continue to do ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Tax exempt threshold changes to benefit startups

    Technology companies are among the startups which will benefit from increases to current thresholds of exempt employee share schemes, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Revenue Minister Simon Watts say. Tax exempt thresholds for the schemes are increasing as part of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2024-25, Emergency ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Getting the healthcare you need, when you need it

    The path to faster cancer treatment, an increase in immunisation rates, shorter stays in emergency departments and quick assessment and treatments when you are sick has been laid out today. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has revealed details of how the ambitious health targets the Government has set will be ...
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    7 days ago
  • Targeted supports to accelerate reading

    The coalition Government is delivering targeted and structured literacy supports to accelerate learning for struggling readers. From Term 1 2025, $33 million of funding for Reading Recovery and Early Literacy Support will be reprioritised to interventions which align with structured approaches to teaching. “Structured literacy will change the way children ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Survivors invited to Abuse in Care national apology

    With two months until the national apology to survivors of abuse in care, expressions of interest have opened for survivors wanting to attend. “The Prime Minister will deliver a national apology on Tuesday 12 November in Parliament. It will be a very significant day for survivors, their families, whānau and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Rangatahi inspire at Ngā Manu Kōrero final

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    7 days ago
  • Driving structured literacy in schools

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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Labour’s misleading information is disappointing

    Labour’s misinformation about firearms law is dangerous and disappointing, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says.   “Labour and Ginny Andersen have repeatedly said over the past few days that the previous Labour Government completely banned semi-automatic firearms in 2019 and that the Coalition Government is planning to ‘reintroduce’ them.   ...
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