There's partial funding by government for people who don't earn wages or pay levies, so children, retired (and beneficiaries other unwaged I presume)
ACC is funded from multiple sources, including business, petrol revenues and wages. Funds from each source are spent on injuries relevant to where they happened.
Examples of funds paying for different injuries:
If you're injured in a motor vehicle accident, your ACC claim is paid for by funds sourced from motorists, such as vehicle registration and petrol levies
If you fall off your bicycle, the cost of your treatment is paid from a levy on your wages.
Accidents in the workplace are covered by levies paid by businesses
Government funds treatment for children and retirees.
These are just a few examples of the ways ACC levies from multiple sources are used to support people who are injured.
it's a nebulous, shapeshifting beast is ACC, at all levels
The 6.5% expenditure reduction over Government can be looked at as the amount revenue is going to contract as National tanks the economy to create ‘opportunity’ for their vulture mates. I’m expecting the tax cuts to quietly slip back because of ‘economic conditions’.
“it's a nebulous, shapeshifting beast is ACC, at all levels…”
It sure is, I did print layout for a Union Publication on ACC–basically how to negotiate the maze, and it can involve engaging specialist lawyers–and was quite taken aback by how much you need to become aware of to receive your entitlements and not get done over by case managers that make WINZ/MSD look good.
When I was an industrial worker pre 90s, ACC was a matter of seeing a doctor (as opposed to multiple doctors of ACC’s choice), a little form filling, and the employer just paid you every week…no longer it seems. But sure, self employment and precarious work has ballooned in the 00s which complicates things.
self employment and precarious work has ballooned in the 00s which complicates things
Fark yes, try claiming earnings compo when you're self employed. Standard tax accounting practices effectively deny you compensation as you're paid on net earnings, you then have to have income insurance on top of ACC levies to take care of your fixed costs while your are unable to work.
ACC is more than adequately funded by PAYGO levies.
As proven by the fact that it accumulates "reserves" like private insurance. Reserves which have basically been stolen from claimants who pay the levies.. Where cover has been refused or underpaid for all sorts of specious reasons.
ACC has no need for accumulating reserves as it is fully funded by levies. Rates of claims are fully predictable, and levies are set accordingly. Unlike earthquake or fire insurance, where exceptional events require reserve funding to cover them.
The only reason for "reserves" and forward funding current claimants, (Levying enough and paying out less to have a surplus to invest) is to make it attractive for sale to private insurance. It also makes the overall Government books look better than they are. Helps when trying to justify borrowing for tax cuts, for millionaires.
An anology would be NZTA putting aside a billion a year in the US stock market, while the roads are collapsing from lack of repairs!
A better analogy would be the "Cullen" fund. The New Zealand Superannuation Fund if you prefer its formal name. I assume you are in favour of scrapping it as New Zealand Superannuation is fully funded on a pay as you go basis.
Why do we have the Super fund? The only real reason is that Cullen, faced with excessive tax receipts back in 2000, was too mean to let people keep their own income so he invented this way of keeping it in Government hands.
It is totally unnecessary and should be scrapped. I assume, given you views on the necessity for ACC to have reserves for future payments that you agree with me?
I suspect there were sound fiscal reasons for not letting people "keep their own income" – something to do with avoiding inflation; and there has always been a suspicion that the country would not be able to afford national super once the boomers started to retire, and that therefore a fund built up in advance might be of assistance.
I think you'll find that ACC is the only health insurance in the world that is fully funded for all future claims. The accumulation of reserves on top of being fully funded represents theft from the present where it could be used rather than attempting to tie down the definition of injury more tightly than is intended by prescriptive descriptions of what an illness or injury from the workplace is.
At 14 I was swinging a hammer for the old man, a full time manual worker until got off the tools in my late fifties and pulled the pin at 66. Elbows, knees, neck, you name it. Properly fucked.
That is complete rubbish Alwyn. With the ageing population there is a big future superannuation deficit which means the Cullen fund is more needed than ever and Key was stupid to stop paying into it in order to give tax cuts.
Retirement income, real income as opposed to monetary income, as does schooling healthcare, infrastructure supply and food, always comes from current production. If I do not eat my dinner today, it does not mean there is someone who can give me my dinner in my eighties. The best investment for my old age then, is not giving my money away for financial wizards to lose, but to pay taxes, (and spend my income) to make sure that the next generation are happy, healthy, educated, employed and comfortable
The reserves are required when an aging population is more vulnerable to injury.
In that sense one of the few ways we provide for the aging of the population (as per health costs).
Those with assets have lower borrowing costs, that includes government.
Spare capacity also allows for the possibility of moving to include sickness.
ACC should be flourishing (and government budgets) when there is full employment that allows it and government to cope with the cost of higher unemployment – lower level of levies (and tax revenue) inflow.
The difference between those MPs etc. mentioned in your link and Luxon is that most of them probably have mortgages to sustain and don't have a string of mortgage-free homes dotted around the place.
I bet Luxon didn't even think about how it would look to the voters because he is such a self entitled prick. He has neither a conscience or a moral bone in his body.
C’mon Luxury Luxon only has 7 pads including the Wgtn. freehold and a Hawaii vacation spread, the $52 grand is in the rules…ok surely…except that it is not!
Even Dipton double dipper Bill English was finally embarrassed with his ripping us taxpayers via accomodation. Not so sure with Baldrick though, he is tone deaf.
Luxon is an electorate MP whose electorate is in Auckland. He needs to live, as almost all electorate MPs do, in or close to his electorate.
He also needs somewhere to live in Wellington. If Premier House isn't suitable he can live somewhere else. Why should he be treated any differently to any other electorate MP? Why should he be expected to pay his expenses out of his own pocket just because he is richer than most people? Let's face it. All MPs are better off than the bulk of the populace.
If you really want to complain about bludging MPs you should look at the List MPs, who choose to live outside of Wellington but expect the tax-payer to fund their living costs in Wellington.
List MPs should not be eligible for any accommodation allowance in the Capital. They should be told that the job for a List MP is in Wellington and a moving allowance will be paid so they can move there. That's it. From then on their address is Wellington and no accommodation perks will be provided to them.
If the MSM want something to talk about they should be asking why Luxon's home is considered to be a target for Palestinian terrorist supporters. Leave his family alone.
Why should he be expected to pay his expenses out of his own pocket just because he is richer than most people
Have you ever heard of means testing the entitlements paid out by the state? Or the process of abatement if you earn some temporary or part-time income while on a benefit? These tools are seemingly regarded as necessary to protect the public purse and police the morals of the poor, or even of just the not-rich. Why should MPs not be subject to something similar?
Not fascinating at all Alwyn, not in this scenario. Please explain to us mere mortals why, in the age of allegedly necessary austerity, a multi-millionaire freeholder homeowner who is paid by the taxpayer doesn't deserve to be means tested for an allowance?
Really, means testing needs to be expanded even more, given how broke the country apparently is. I propose that MPs with over a certain amount of cash assets and income received alongside their MP salaries have to use that up first before being allowed any 'perks' like accommodation and meal allowances, even travel. They can afford those taxi fares from the airport. Don't worry, we won't make them sell off all their assets before being allowed to get paid anything.
Rich MPs who are there because they want to make a difference, not because they want power, won't have an argument with this.
It isn't a benefit. It is a salary and allowances package they get for doing a job. Now I might think they are overpaid and that we should reduce all public service salaries down to where the maximum that anyone can be paid is limited to $100,000 but I suspect we aren't going to have any doctors in our hospitals are we?
I can remember when MPs were paid a great deal less than they are now. The used to get about the same as a experienced teacher in a school. Lets go back to that and pay ordinary MPs about $80,000 shall we?
The MPs I worry about aren't the, possibly rich, ones who were successful at something else before they become MPs. The ones I don't want around are the ones who are so useless that they couldn't make anything like their current income in the world outside Parliament. They are the no-hoper, generally list, MPs who inhabit the back benches of the house and whose claim to fame is that they were a barista or such like.
It's an allowance to enable you to do a job, not a salary for doing the job. It's a benefit that is generously dished out only to our imagined and disproportionately rewarded elites. It's perfectly valid and moral to means test it.
The MPs I worry about aren't the, possibly rich, ones who were successful at something else before they become MPs.
Quite right alwyn, the rich and/or successful can look after themselves.
…whose claim to fame is that they were a barista…
I worked a number of minimum wage jobs as a teenager and while completing Uni degrees; waitress, barista, in retail, in a call centre, as a projectionist at a cinema, at a campus library, and as maintenance manager at my housing cooperative.
However, its future is uncertain as National showed little support for it while in opposition, and is in the process of dismantling some of the last government’s employment laws, claiming they limited “flexibility, choice and agility in workplaces”.
Otoh, motivated Filipino temps are very flexible – things are looking up!
When the bill was first debated in Parliament, baristas were cited as one of the groups of lowly-paid workers who sometimes had restraint of trade clauses in their contracts.
Wealth is not a biological trait. Your logic is that the wealthy should not be subject to scrutiny simply because they are wealthy? This is eugenics territory and an unsustainable proposition for a functional society. What has transpired with this Luxon situation would be labeled benefit fraud for most of the rank and file and the hypocrisy is frankly offensive. An inability to recognise this is a hallmark of talentless privilege, which is not a skill that benefits society but a burden upon it. How many more decades of this social intelligent design fantasy are we to be compelled to accommodate? I'm so sick and tired of being sick and tired.
You should read more carefully. My view is that they should have shown that they can do something well. They might have become rich while doing so. If so they shouldn't be excluded from becoming an MP.
The ones I don't want around are the ones who are so useless that they couldn't make anything like their current income in the world outside Parliament.
You did seem to be equating that those on lower salaries, like 90% of the people, should not be MP's.
Actually. Whose to say an MP is more useful than a Teacher? Or deserves more money.
Though we need to pay at a level that normal people, not just the idle rich can afford to do it. We see with councils how that works.
And. Expense allowances, in most jobs, cover actual expenses, not to add to already generous pay.
ones who were successful at something else before they become MPs.
That they were successful is debatable. Brown nosing your way through secure positions in a corporate, appears to be some of the worst training for a Parliamentary position. Being sheltered from life in a University is another red flag.
People with a varied and in touch with reality, life experience have been our most original and effective politicians.
I cannot see how you can possibly come to that conclusion from anything I have said. It is something that can quite fairly be said about the Labour Party hierarchy though as that party has been largely overrun by mediocre academics.
What happened to the working class that used to be represented by people like Norman Kirk, or Gordon Christie?
Most people who read this would conclude the same.
The ones I don't want around are the ones who are so useless that they couldn't make anything like their current income in the world outside Parliament.
Before I cry for Luxon, not being able to rent out one of his 7 properties he owns mortgage free to someone else, while he resides there … first this
He used to claim $90,000 a year. Others doing so last year.
National Party MPs: Christopher Luxon, Andrew Bayly; Gerry Brownlee; Judith Collins; Jacqui Dean; Barbara Kuriger; Melissa Lee; Ian McKelvie; Mark Mitchell; Simon O’Connor; Stuart Smith; Louise Upston and Michael Woodhouse.
Labour Party MPs: Willie Jackson, Sarah Pallet, Deborah Russell, Jenny Salesa, Jamie Strange, Jan Tinetti, Duncan Webb, Arena Williams.
The wealthier they are the more likely they are to do it, never enough …
For mine the housing goes for rent or mortgage payment costs – if there are no such costs, no claim to make.
Local MP's get nothing for the house they live in – they pay rent and mortgage out of their salary.
Included in this number is National Leader Christopher Luxon who since the start of 2021 has claimed around $90,000 to live in his own house in Wellington.
From the start of 2021 until that date is two and three quarter years. It covers all of 2021, all of 2022 and most of 2023. You are somehow claiming it was in a single year!
Ok then. He had not claimed $90,000 per annum, but $90,000 total while living in a house he owned before becoming PM.
He has since refunded the $13,000 he has claimed since becoming PM – but none of the earlier $90,000.
In reference to those others doing the same, some would still be paying off the mortgage on the property. That being an on-going cost to them of living in Wellington.
The Remuneration Authority should look at whether those with no Wellington housing cost should receive any allowance.
A rather grudging admission perhaps but at least you are admitting you were quite wrong. I wish some of our MPs could do even that.
Even if you think it is fair to treat the MPs who own their homes in Wellington, as well as one in or near their electorate, and I don't, he is still going to have costs here. Rates, power, insurance, Body Corporate charges, etc, etc.
The Remuneration Authority should instead look at the people who are List MPs and have no reason at all to live anywhere at all except Wellington. They should be expected to move to Wellington. They should get no allowance at all for their Wellington Housing or for their own, and their families travel to Wellington.
At the moment (not any in 2023), it appears none of the MP's of the Greens or TPM is claiming any allowance for a house they own in Wellington.
None of the Wellington based MP's is allowed to claim any housing support.
An out of town electorate MP gets the support because they are as much in their electorate as in Wellington (parliament breaks, electorate work and weekends and campaigns).
List MP's serve their parties nationwide (selected onto the list by party members and are accountable to them nationwide, not just in Wellington). This is more so for parties with a high list profile proportion. And in those cases they have spokesperson roles that also requiring nationwide connection to sector groups outside the party.
It is simpler to just give them a housing allowance than to have them claim expenses for work related trips.
List figures otherwise are higher ups in the major parties with "workloads" – which is why their families often remain based in the electorates they once were members for. If, over the years they have managed to use their housing allowance to own an apartment without a mortgage, they do not need an allowance.
he is still going to have costs here. Rates, power, insurance, Body Corporate charges, etc, etc.
Given we are the only nation in the OECD without a CGT, or estate tax – you think that is an arguement?
Suppose all the List MPs were to move to Wellington and live here. They would not get a Housing Allowance. After all Wellington will be their home.
This would have no effect on their Parliament related travel outside Wellington. They can still do that, and have it paid for. They do that now don't they. Nothing is going to change in that respect.
Any person who takes a job in Wellington is expected to move her. Why should list MPs be any different. If you want the job move to the location of the job.
I cannot understand what you mean by the last sentence. What has a CGT, or Estate tax, have to do with the rates you have to pay, or the Insurance on a property, or any of the other costs have to do with it?
I lived in Australia. They had a CGT system in place. I still had to pay rates and insurance you know.
List MP's are nationwide electorate party MP's. That is unrelated to parliamentary/government business.
Electorate MP's living in a property in Wellington they own without a mortgage, do not need financial help at the level of $36,400 as MP's or $52,000 to as Ministers to pay rates, insurance, power and broadband.
The properties they own are rising in value each year with the CG untaxed. Nor is there any estate tax paid on that inherited wealth.
They should only be able to claim such costs (and any maintenance) when they pay tax on gains from ownership.
If you are a true believer in the last Government we had until last year then you wouldn't see any difference between a property without a mortgage and one that did have one.
After all the the Labour Government changed the law to prevent anyone claiming the interest paid on borrowing to buy a property. Why should anyone be entitled to a housing allowance just because they have borrowed to buy it, would surely have to be your opinion.
MP's are allowed to receive an allowance for their Wellington housing costs, rent and mortgage are such costs.
The Remuneration Authority sets those rules, and in my opinion should tighten up access to provide it only to those paying rent or mortgage.
PS The former governments policy design was to incentivise landlords moving from existing to new build property ownership – that latter qualified for mortgage deduction as a cost against rent income. We want investment money into extra housing not bidding up the price of current housing.
Destiny Church bikers will continue to wear their Tu Tangata leather vests because “they are korowai, not gang patches”, says church matriarch Hannah Tamaki.
New legislation on Monday outlawed the wearing of gang patches in public, and offenders who break that ban could be fined up to $5000 or jailed for six months. The gang patch ban extends to funerals and tangi.
Tamaki told the Herald the 90 bikers who ride under Destiny Church’s Tu Tangata Iwi Tapu patch would continue in the church colours.
That will be interesting as they are defiant and Tamaki even issues a warning to Mark Mitchell.
Israel has now fully demonstrated why UNRWA must be maintained and strengthened. The horror of non UN aid trucks being used in North Gaza as bait to bring out desperately starving Palestinians from their hiding places in order to massacre more than 100, run over their bodies with tanks, and injure more than 700 in an environment with zero first aid, is apalling.
There is no way that aid trucks can reach Gaza without express knowledge of the Israeli's.
"The majority of victims suffered gunshots and shrapnel in the head and upper parts of the body. They were hit by direct artillery shelling, drone missiles and gun firing"…
Ambulances were unable to reach the scene of the massacre.
Feel the same Git, low bastards. There have been a couple of airdrops into Gaza, by a UK group with assistance via Jordan, but fully expect the next one to be shot down…
There needs to be an international aid brigade that just goes in…there are reports of a Turkey led flotilla leaving soon including NZ Kia Ora Gaza reps. Back in 2011 the Turkish flotilla was attacked by Israel in international waters and a number of people killed. One of my colleagues Mike Treen went one year, was tasered and beaten, lucky to escape with his life, similarly Green MP Marama Davidson went in 2016 I think and was lucky to get out alive too.
Israel is not coming back from this butchery for much of the worlds people, even if Govt.s seem happy enough to look the other way.
Interesting that the coalition isn't supporting Cushla Tangaere-Manuel's Local Government Amendment Bill to allow councilors to attend meetings remotely for what can be loosely described as "reasons" – but only if you're feeling extremely generous:
They seem to range from still being salty about COVID lockdowns (Simon Court -ACT):
I want to make it clear why the ACT Party won't be supporting this bill. While there are occasions, whether it's following a sever weather event, where local government – elected members may not be able to travel to hold meetings, it is possible that by exception, in the future, there may be occasions where there's a need for remote participation. This should not become a matter of course. This Parliament, which facilitated remote participation when the COVID-19 controls were in place so that members like myself, who were relegated to be the second-class citizens of New Zealand, stuck in Auckland, could participate—that is no longer the case. This Parliament has adapted to the return of the normal situation, and so has local government. Therefore, we won't be supporting this bill and we do not believe it should proceed. Thank you.
To something, something, something gummint overreach (Tim Costley – National)
We believe in local solutions to local problems. We absolutely believe that they should have the freedom of choice, but we don't believe in this age-old, from-the-left "Wellington knows best. We'll tell you how to do it. We've got all the answers. What we decide in Wellington is the way to do it." We heard it from them not just with this; we heard it from three waters, "Give us all your ratepayer assets, we'll take control of them, and we'll decide what you're going to do with them." We heard it with Te Pūkenga: "We'll centralise everything. Wellington knows best. We've got the answers." We saw it with health. Nothing gets better
Don't know exactly what is in the bill, but what has either excuse above got to do with the assumed intent… that is, allow someone who wants to attend a meeting but is unable to because say… an air-port closure due to fog.
It seems to me that the right wing brain can only reach a certain level of comprehension before a brain-fog sets in which sends them down rabbit holes and flights of irrelevant fancy.
The bill itself is pretty simple and just amends the LGA to specifically make remote participation at council meetings a legal right, rather than something a Council can decide to allow via standing orders.
But yeah, crazy NACT is trying itself into knots trying to oppose it.
God only knows what will happens when the abolition of the ratepayer roll gets drawn.
"He knew what we all eventually realize, if we are awake and courageous enough: that the best way — and the only effective way — to complain about the way things are is to make new and better things, untested and unexampled things, things that spring from the gravity of creative conviction and drag the status quo like a tide toward some new horizon."
This footag is designed to make Palestinians look like insects and ants, not like people. The IDF has the most advanced image capturing equipment on the planet. They film and send this out to make you hate Palestinians and be indifferent to their deaths, or even be happy about it. This is meant to visually dehumanize. This is the lowest of the lowest of the low. This is it, right here. This actually makes me sick
IDF released aerial footage showing how a Palestinian crowd in northern #Gaza attacked the trucks bringing humanitarian aid and as a result, dozens died from overcrowding, and trampling
Rather than bite the bullet and carry on with the contract for a modern, fit for purpose piece of vital transport infrastructure that'll deliver intergenerational benefits the idiots chose to piss the thick end of half a billion dollars up against the wall.
/
KiwiRail has written off $382 million in costs associated with the cancelled Interislander replacement project and provisioned a further $60m for winding it down, BusinessDesk reports.
The $442m in costs, detailed in the 2024 half-year results released on Thursday, doesn’t include the cost of exiting the shipbuilding contract with South Korean shipyard Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, which was contracted to build two new ferries for $551m.
A bomb has just gone off in uk politics in the form of George Galloway winning the Rochdale by election , the first thing he said in his acceptance speech was " this is for Gaza " and he wont be mincing his words on the subject when he gets to parliament !!
Good news !! Keir will be shitting himself .cant wait .
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Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
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 members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
By Lagi Keresoma in Apia The Miss Pacific Islands Pageant (MPIP) Committee has finally issued a statement — 5 days after damaging social media attacks following the 2025 Pageant finals hosted by the Solomon Islands last Saturday. The statement yesterday simply said the committee recognised and deeply regretted the distress ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – The New Zealand government and the mainstream media have gone ballistic (thankfully not literally just yet) over the move by the small Pacific nation to sign a strategic partnership with China in Beijing this week. It is the latest in ...
The Chinese have politely told the Kiwis to back off. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters that China and the Cook Islands have had diplomatic relations since 1997 which “should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party”. “New Zealand is rightly furious about it,” a TVNZ Pacific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When parliamentarians left Canberra on Thursday after the fortnight sitting, federal politics had the air of an uneasy waiting game. Waiting for the election date, although the campaign has been running for months. ...
The Health Committee has heard from both the Minister for Mental Health, and from members of the public offering their own lived experience of mental health treatment. ...
The regional imperialist powers, including Australia, New Zealand and France have maintained neo-colonial control over the Southwest Pacific for more than a century, keeping the fragile island nations in a state of dependency with conditions of poverty ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne Public transport in Queensland now costs just 50 cents. Yet in the first six months of the trial, it’s been revealed that thousands of commuters were ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Harris Rimmer, Professor, Griffith Law School, Griffith University Two federal politicians from opposing camps reached across the aisle this week to promote a valuable cause – the wellbeing of future Australian generations. Independent MP Sophie Scamps tabled the Wellbeing of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Younger, Lecturer in Southern Ocean Vertebrate Ecology, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania Australia’s Antarctic territory represents the largest sliver of the ice continent. For decades, Australian scientists have headed to one of our three bases – Mawson, ...
A Māori Purposes Bill is an omnibus bill that enables minor, technical, and non-controversial amendments to legislation relating to Māori affairs. This Māori Purposes Bill aims to modernise some legislation relating to Māori Affairs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Campbell, Lecturer, Performing Arts, UniSA Creative, University of South Australia Matt Byrne/STCSA Housework, a new play by Emily Steel, lifts the rock off politics to expose its crawling, ruthless, yet undeniably comic underside. The result is masterful, hilarious and deeply ...
After two years of major damage from storms, a key government unit has made an abrupt change to focus on cyber security over and above natural disasters. ...
Pacific Media Watch Papua New Guinea’s civic space has been rated as “obstructed” by the Civicus Monitor and the country has been criticised for pushing forward with a controversial media law in spite of strong opposition. Among concerns previously documented by the civil rights watchdog are harassment and threats against ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Younger, Lecturer in Southern Ocean Vertebrate Ecology, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania Australia’s Antarctic territory represents the largest sliver of the ice continent. For decades, Australian scientists have headed to one of our three bases – Mawson, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scott Dwyer, Research Director, Energy Futures, University of Technology Sydney 24K-Productions Our cars sit unused most of the time. If you have an electric vehicle, you might leave it charging at home or work after driving it. But there’s another step ...
Everything you missed from day four of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard two hours of submissions.Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.Parliament’s Room 3 was the same old, same old on Thursday morning for the fourth Treaty principles bill hearing – brown ...
By Melina Etches of the Cook Islands News A motion of no confidence has been filed against the Prime Minister and his Cabinet following the recent fiasco involving the now-abandoned Cook Islands passport proposal and the comprehensive strategic partnership the country will sign with China this week. Cook Islands United ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scott Dwyer, Research Director, Energy Futures, University of Technology Sydney 24K-Productions Our cars sit unused most of the time. If you have an electric vehicle, you might leave it charging at home or work after driving it. But there’s another step ...
The December results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2024 (HYEFU 2024), published on 17 December 2024, and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ajay Narendra, Associate Professor of Insect Neuroethology, Macquarie University Pranav Joshi Jumping spiders – one of the largest spider families – get their name from the extraordinary jumps they make to hunt prey, to navigate and also to evade predators. Male ...
Both ministers have confirm they shared a phone call on Thursday morning, with the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement due to expire next month. ...
The final designs for the long-awaited Courtenay Place revamp have been released. Joel MacManus takes a closer look at the details. At an embargoed media briefing on Wednesday, Wellington mayor Tory Whanau and a team of council staff showed journalists a 3D-printed model of Courtenay Place. For about an hour, ...
The Economic Growth Minister is targeting increasing competition in the banking, grocery, and electricity sectors for the government to address this year. ...
Ecomatters Bike Hub has helped 30,000 Aucklanders start cycling. Shanti Mathias rides over to understand the impact of these community bike workshops.When An Na moved with her husband and two kids to Auckland in 2022, it took a while to start learning their way around. “We started taking our ...
Echo Chamber is The Spinoff’s dispatch from the press gallery, recapping sessions in the House. Columns are written by politics reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith and Wellington editor Joel MacManus. Labour leader Chris Hipkins is on the war path – the path being the overthrowing of Act leader David Seymour, and hopefully ...
Callaghan Innovation told 63 workers their roles were being made redundant, including 16 commercialisation roles, 14 scientists and engineers, 6 Māori Innovation roles, and others working in data, digital, product design, risk and audit, marketing, government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Sheedy, Professor – Risk governance, culture, remuneration, Macquarie University This week the corporate regulator is taking on executives and directors of Star Entertainment in the Federal Court, in a landmark case for Australian corporate governance. ASIC will allege that despite multiple ...
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350196925/acc-mulls-job-cuts-after-very-clear-expectation-save-65
Is acc fully self funded by the revenue it collects ?
If it is does this government intend to steel employers acc contributions to fund tax cuts ?
There's partial funding by government for people who don't earn wages or pay levies, so children, retired (and beneficiaries other unwaged I presume)
it's a nebulous, shapeshifting beast is ACC, at all levels
The 6.5% expenditure reduction over Government can be looked at as the amount revenue is going to contract as National tanks the economy to create ‘opportunity’ for their vulture mates. I’m expecting the tax cuts to quietly slip back because of ‘economic conditions’.
“it's a nebulous, shapeshifting beast is ACC, at all levels…”
It sure is, I did print layout for a Union Publication on ACC–basically how to negotiate the maze, and it can involve engaging specialist lawyers–and was quite taken aback by how much you need to become aware of to receive your entitlements and not get done over by case managers that make WINZ/MSD look good.
When I was an industrial worker pre 90s, ACC was a matter of seeing a doctor (as opposed to multiple doctors of ACC’s choice), a little form filling, and the employer just paid you every week…no longer it seems. But sure, self employment and precarious work has ballooned in the 00s which complicates things.
Fark yes, try claiming earnings compo when you're self employed. Standard tax accounting practices effectively deny you compensation as you're paid on net earnings, you then have to have income insurance on top of ACC levies to take care of your fixed costs while your are unable to work.
ACC is more than adequately funded by PAYGO levies.
As proven by the fact that it accumulates "reserves" like private insurance. Reserves which have basically been stolen from claimants who pay the levies.. Where cover has been refused or underpaid for all sorts of specious reasons.
ACC has no need for accumulating reserves as it is fully funded by levies. Rates of claims are fully predictable, and levies are set accordingly. Unlike earthquake or fire insurance, where exceptional events require reserve funding to cover them.
The only reason for "reserves" and forward funding current claimants, (Levying enough and paying out less to have a surplus to invest) is to make it attractive for sale to private insurance. It also makes the overall Government books look better than they are. Helps when trying to justify borrowing for tax cuts, for millionaires.
An anology would be NZTA putting aside a billion a year in the US stock market, while the roads are collapsing from lack of repairs!
A better analogy would be the "Cullen" fund. The New Zealand Superannuation Fund if you prefer its formal name. I assume you are in favour of scrapping it as New Zealand Superannuation is fully funded on a pay as you go basis.
Why do we have the Super fund? The only real reason is that Cullen, faced with excessive tax receipts back in 2000, was too mean to let people keep their own income so he invented this way of keeping it in Government hands.
It is totally unnecessary and should be scrapped. I assume, given you views on the necessity for ACC to have reserves for future payments that you agree with me?
I suspect there were sound fiscal reasons for not letting people "keep their own income" – something to do with avoiding inflation; and there has always been a suspicion that the country would not be able to afford national super once the boomers started to retire, and that therefore a fund built up in advance might be of assistance.
I think you'll find that ACC is the only health insurance in the world that is fully funded for all future claims. The accumulation of reserves on top of being fully funded represents theft from the present where it could be used rather than attempting to tie down the definition of injury more tightly than is intended by prescriptive descriptions of what an illness or injury from the workplace is.
I'm starting to creak and grown after 37 years of manual labour started pushing a milk cart at 14,
I expect I'll be classed as wear and tear illness as opposed to work related injuries when the time comes
At 14 I was swinging a hammer for the old man, a full time manual worker until got off the tools in my late fifties and pulled the pin at 66. Elbows, knees, neck, you name it. Properly fucked.
That is complete rubbish Alwyn. With the ageing population there is a big future superannuation deficit which means the Cullen fund is more needed than ever and Key was stupid to stop paying into it in order to give tax cuts.
The myth of “Retirement Savings” « The Standard
The reserves are required when an aging population is more vulnerable to injury.
In that sense one of the few ways we provide for the aging of the population (as per health costs).
Those with assets have lower borrowing costs, that includes government.
Spare capacity also allows for the possibility of moving to include sickness.
ACC should be flourishing (and government budgets) when there is full employment that allows it and government to cope with the cost of higher unemployment – lower level of levies (and tax revenue) inflow.
No NACT is downsizing ACC so
1. it can lower contribution requirements from employers
2. reduce the amount of assets on the government books to create a sense of debt crisis
It merely reflects the NACT wreckers anti-government capability policy.
The $30 million pig has his snout in the taxpayer trough. Despicable.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/03/01/luxon-claims-52k-accommodation-payment-to-live-in-own-apartment/
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/510560/christopher-luxon-claims-52k-accommodation-payment-to-live-in-own-apartment
The difference between those MPs etc. mentioned in your link and Luxon is that most of them probably have mortgages to sustain and don't have a string of mortgage-free homes dotted around the place.
I bet Luxon didn't even think about how it would look to the voters because he is such a self entitled prick. He has neither a conscience or a moral bone in his body.
C’mon Luxury Luxon only has 7 pads including the Wgtn. freehold and a Hawaii vacation spread, the $52 grand is in the rules…ok surely…except that it is not!
Even Dipton double dipper Bill English was finally embarrassed with his ripping us taxpayers via accomodation. Not so sure with Baldrick though, he is tone deaf.
"a Hawaii vacation spread".
Bulls**t.
Wasn't it luxon – or someone doing his bidding – who recently told those doing it the hardest that the free ride is over..?
Luxury Luxon himself used the term…“free ride is over”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/prime-minister-christopher-luxon-talks-to-mike-hosking-about-beneficiary-sanctions/NPDTDV4E2FBLHGB6KOZCOXMFYA/
Reminiscent of SirKey saying beneficiaries needed a “kick in the pants…”
The 3 Amigos coalition looks like a repeat of the 90s “war on the poor” to me. Act are now gunning for school lunches…wtf…educationalists have delivered the evidence for years that hungry kids don’t learn well at all, a Principal said on RNZ today the free breakfast and or lunch is the only decent meal some kids get.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018928238/not-providing-school-lunches-could-lead-to-truancy
Natzos just love a good Bennie bash.
It's Waiheke, not Hawaii – all hail "King Luxon the Aspirational" – marvellous!
Luxon is an electorate MP whose electorate is in Auckland. He needs to live, as almost all electorate MPs do, in or close to his electorate.
He also needs somewhere to live in Wellington. If Premier House isn't suitable he can live somewhere else. Why should he be treated any differently to any other electorate MP? Why should he be expected to pay his expenses out of his own pocket just because he is richer than most people? Let's face it. All MPs are better off than the bulk of the populace.
If you really want to complain about bludging MPs you should look at the List MPs, who choose to live outside of Wellington but expect the tax-payer to fund their living costs in Wellington.
List MPs should not be eligible for any accommodation allowance in the Capital. They should be told that the job for a List MP is in Wellington and a moving allowance will be paid so they can move there. That's it. From then on their address is Wellington and no accommodation perks will be provided to them.
If the MSM want something to talk about they should be asking why Luxon's home is considered to be a target for Palestinian terrorist supporters. Leave his family alone.
Lux-on owns the property he is claiming for..
..freehold…
He is also the richest mp…
You know how it goes:
Do as I say – not as I do..
Oh dear, alwyn is upset. This is not going to help:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/510589/luxon-s-criticisms-of-profligate-spending-come-back-to-bite
Have you ever heard of means testing the entitlements paid out by the state? Or the process of abatement if you earn some temporary or part-time income while on a benefit? These tools are seemingly regarded as necessary to protect the public purse and police the morals of the poor, or even of just the not-rich. Why should MPs not be subject to something similar?
Politicians are payed for by taxpayer and they should 100% be subject to means testing like the rest of us plebs.
https://www.moneyhub.co.nz/accommodation-supplement.html#:~:text=Someone%20not%20receiving%20a%20main,union%20or%20de%20facto%20couple
You certainly have a fascinating idea of what is a "benefit"
Not fascinating at all Alwyn, not in this scenario. Please explain to us mere mortals why, in the age of allegedly necessary austerity, a multi-millionaire freeholder homeowner who is paid by the taxpayer doesn't deserve to be means tested for an allowance?
Really, means testing needs to be expanded even more, given how broke the country apparently is. I propose that MPs with over a certain amount of cash assets and income received alongside their MP salaries have to use that up first before being allowed any 'perks' like accommodation and meal allowances, even travel. They can afford those taxi fares from the airport. Don't worry, we won't make them sell off all their assets before being allowed to get paid anything.
Rich MPs who are there because they want to make a difference, not because they want power, won't have an argument with this.
It isn't a benefit. It is a salary and allowances package they get for doing a job. Now I might think they are overpaid and that we should reduce all public service salaries down to where the maximum that anyone can be paid is limited to $100,000 but I suspect we aren't going to have any doctors in our hospitals are we?
I can remember when MPs were paid a great deal less than they are now. The used to get about the same as a experienced teacher in a school. Lets go back to that and pay ordinary MPs about $80,000 shall we?
The MPs I worry about aren't the, possibly rich, ones who were successful at something else before they become MPs. The ones I don't want around are the ones who are so useless that they couldn't make anything like their current income in the world outside Parliament. They are the no-hoper, generally list, MPs who inhabit the back benches of the house and whose claim to fame is that they were a barista or such like.
It's an allowance to enable you to do a job, not a salary for doing the job. It's a benefit that is generously dished out only to our imagined and disproportionately rewarded elites. It's perfectly valid and moral to means test it.
Quite right alwyn, the rich and/or successful can look after themselves.
Otoh, motivated Filipino temps are very flexible – things are looking up!
Wealth is not a biological trait. Your logic is that the wealthy should not be subject to scrutiny simply because they are wealthy? This is eugenics territory and an unsustainable proposition for a functional society. What has transpired with this Luxon situation would be labeled benefit fraud for most of the rank and file and the hypocrisy is frankly offensive. An inability to recognise this is a hallmark of talentless privilege, which is not a skill that benefits society but a burden upon it. How many more decades of this social intelligent design fantasy are we to be compelled to accommodate? I'm so sick and tired of being sick and tired.
You should read more carefully. My view is that they should have shown that they can do something well. They might have become rich while doing so. If so they shouldn't be excluded from becoming an MP.
You did seem to be equating that those on lower salaries, like 90% of the people, should not be MP's.
Actually. Whose to say an MP is more useful than a Teacher? Or deserves more money.
Though we need to pay at a level that normal people, not just the idle rich can afford to do it. We see with councils how that works.
And. Expense allowances, in most jobs, cover actual expenses, not to add to already generous pay.
That they were successful is debatable. Brown nosing your way through secure positions in a corporate, appears to be some of the worst training for a Parliamentary position. Being sheltered from life in a University is another red flag.
People with a varied and in touch with reality, life experience have been our most original and effective politicians.
So you do not think the working class should be represented by one of their own in parliament?
I cannot see how you can possibly come to that conclusion from anything I have said. It is something that can quite fairly be said about the Labour Party hierarchy though as that party has been largely overrun by mediocre academics.
What happened to the working class that used to be represented by people like Norman Kirk, or Gordon Christie?
Most people who read this would conclude the same.
Before I cry for Luxon, not being able to rent out one of his 7 properties he owns mortgage free to someone else, while he resides there … first this
He used to claim $90,000 a year. Others doing so last year.
National Party MPs: Christopher Luxon, Andrew Bayly; Gerry Brownlee; Judith Collins; Jacqui Dean; Barbara Kuriger; Melissa Lee; Ian McKelvie; Mark Mitchell; Simon O’Connor; Stuart Smith; Louise Upston and Michael Woodhouse.
Labour Party MPs: Willie Jackson, Sarah Pallet, Deborah Russell, Jenny Salesa, Jamie Strange, Jan Tinetti, Duncan Webb, Arena Williams.
The wealthier they are the more likely they are to do it, never enough …
For mine the housing goes for rent or mortgage payment costs – if there are no such costs, no claim to make.
Local MP's get nothing for the house they live in – they pay rent and mortgage out of their salary.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2310/S00020/the-mps-using-the-taxpayer-to-own-wellington-property.htm
"He used to claim $90,000 a year.".
That is a lie. You have no evidence at all for your fanciful claim.
Is it?
Don't read links?
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2310/S00020/the-mps-using-the-taxpayer-to-own-wellington-property.htm
Retract and walk away or be hunted.
You still can't read, can you?
That story was dated 12 October 2023.
From the start of 2021 until that date is two and three quarter years. It covers all of 2021, all of 2022 and most of 2023. You are somehow claiming it was in a single year!
I suggest it is you who should be retracting.
Ok then. He had not claimed $90,000 per annum, but $90,000 total while living in a house he owned before becoming PM.
He has since refunded the $13,000 he has claimed since becoming PM – but none of the earlier $90,000.
In reference to those others doing the same, some would still be paying off the mortgage on the property. That being an on-going cost to them of living in Wellington.
The Remuneration Authority should look at whether those with no Wellington housing cost should receive any allowance.
A rather grudging admission perhaps but at least you are admitting you were quite wrong. I wish some of our MPs could do even that.
Even if you think it is fair to treat the MPs who own their homes in Wellington, as well as one in or near their electorate, and I don't, he is still going to have costs here. Rates, power, insurance, Body Corporate charges, etc, etc.
The Remuneration Authority should instead look at the people who are List MPs and have no reason at all to live anywhere at all except Wellington. They should be expected to move to Wellington. They should get no allowance at all for their Wellington Housing or for their own, and their families travel to Wellington.
Why not?
At the moment (not any in 2023), it appears none of the MP's of the Greens or TPM is claiming any allowance for a house they own in Wellington.
None of the Wellington based MP's is allowed to claim any housing support.
An out of town electorate MP gets the support because they are as much in their electorate as in Wellington (parliament breaks, electorate work and weekends and campaigns).
List MP's serve their parties nationwide (selected onto the list by party members and are accountable to them nationwide, not just in Wellington). This is more so for parties with a high list profile proportion. And in those cases they have spokesperson roles that also requiring nationwide connection to sector groups outside the party.
It is simpler to just give them a housing allowance than to have them claim expenses for work related trips.
List figures otherwise are higher ups in the major parties with "workloads" – which is why their families often remain based in the electorates they once were members for. If, over the years they have managed to use their housing allowance to own an apartment without a mortgage, they do not need an allowance.
Given we are the only nation in the OECD without a CGT, or estate tax – you think that is an arguement?
Regarding the "Housing Allowance".
Suppose all the List MPs were to move to Wellington and live here. They would not get a Housing Allowance. After all Wellington will be their home.
This would have no effect on their Parliament related travel outside Wellington. They can still do that, and have it paid for. They do that now don't they. Nothing is going to change in that respect.
Any person who takes a job in Wellington is expected to move her. Why should list MPs be any different. If you want the job move to the location of the job.
I cannot understand what you mean by the last sentence. What has a CGT, or Estate tax, have to do with the rates you have to pay, or the Insurance on a property, or any of the other costs have to do with it?
I lived in Australia. They had a CGT system in place. I still had to pay rates and insurance you know.
List MP's are nationwide electorate party MP's. That is unrelated to parliamentary/government business.
Electorate MP's living in a property in Wellington they own without a mortgage, do not need financial help at the level of $36,400 as MP's or $52,000 to as Ministers to pay rates, insurance, power and broadband.
The properties they own are rising in value each year with the CG untaxed. Nor is there any estate tax paid on that inherited wealth.
They should only be able to claim such costs (and any maintenance) when they pay tax on gains from ownership.
If you are a true believer in the last Government we had until last year then you wouldn't see any difference between a property without a mortgage and one that did have one.
After all the the Labour Government changed the law to prevent anyone claiming the interest paid on borrowing to buy a property. Why should anyone be entitled to a housing allowance just because they have borrowed to buy it, would surely have to be your opinion.
Why?
MP's are allowed to receive an allowance for their Wellington housing costs, rent and mortgage are such costs.
The Remuneration Authority sets those rules, and in my opinion should tighten up access to provide it only to those paying rent or mortgage.
PS The former governments policy design was to incentivise landlords moving from existing to new build property ownership – that latter qualified for mortgage deduction as a cost against rent income. We want investment money into extra housing not bidding up the price of current housing.
Let's get welfarism for Luxon back on track – oh, that all Kiwis were this 'productive'.
The unparalleled genius of our 'wealth-creators' must be constantly rewarded or else they will abandon us.
That will be interesting as they are defiant and Tamaki even issues a warning to Mark Mitchell.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/bishop-brians-bikers-will-wear-their-leather-vests-with-pride-because-they-are-korowai-not-gang-patches/U7DRA3TR6FBHNJAFAMQHEYYCTY/
Israel has now fully demonstrated why UNRWA must be maintained and strengthened. The horror of non UN aid trucks being used in North Gaza as bait to bring out desperately starving Palestinians from their hiding places in order to massacre more than 100, run over their bodies with tanks, and injure more than 700 in an environment with zero first aid, is apalling.
There is no way that aid trucks can reach Gaza without express knowledge of the Israeli's.
Ambulances were unable to reach the scene of the massacre.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/29/dozens-killed-injured-by-israeli-fire-in-gaza-while-collecting-food-aid
I thought the Israeli actions couldnt possibly get any worse….but they have managed it.
Feel the same Git, low bastards. There have been a couple of airdrops into Gaza, by a UK group with assistance via Jordan, but fully expect the next one to be shot down…
There needs to be an international aid brigade that just goes in…there are reports of a Turkey led flotilla leaving soon including NZ Kia Ora Gaza reps. Back in 2011 the Turkish flotilla was attacked by Israel in international waters and a number of people killed. One of my colleagues Mike Treen went one year, was tasered and beaten, lucky to escape with his life, similarly Green MP Marama Davidson went in 2016 I think and was lucky to get out alive too.
Israel is not coming back from this butchery for much of the worlds people, even if Govt.s seem happy enough to look the other way.
Interesting that the coalition isn't supporting Cushla Tangaere-Manuel's Local Government Amendment Bill to allow councilors to attend meetings remotely for what can be loosely described as "reasons" – but only if you're feeling extremely generous:
They seem to range from still being salty about COVID lockdowns (Simon Court -ACT):
To something, something, something gummint overreach (Tim Costley – National)
Don't know exactly what is in the bill, but what has either excuse above got to do with the assumed intent… that is, allow someone who wants to attend a meeting but is unable to because say… an air-port closure due to fog.
It seems to me that the right wing brain can only reach a certain level of comprehension before a brain-fog sets in which sends them down rabbit holes and flights of irrelevant fancy.
The bill itself is pretty simple and just amends the LGA to specifically make remote participation at council meetings a legal right, rather than something a Council can decide to allow via standing orders.
But yeah, crazy NACT is trying itself into knots trying to oppose it.
God only knows what will happens when the abolition of the ratepayer roll gets drawn.
Why don’t you provide a link to the source from which you copied & pasted those long quotes @ 6. A link to the Bill document may be helpful too.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20240229_20240229_28
"He knew what we all eventually realize, if we are awake and courageous enough: that the best way — and the only effective way — to complain about the way things are is to make new and better things, untested and unexampled things, things that spring from the gravity of creative conviction and drag the status quo like a tide toward some new horizon."
https://www.themarginalian.org/2022/06/18/william-blake-vs-the-world/
A fascinating read Mr Guyton, thank you.
Congrats Israel, you've done it.
/
@alon_mizrahi
This footag is designed to make Palestinians look like insects and ants, not like people. The IDF has the most advanced image capturing equipment on the planet. They film and send this out to make you hate Palestinians and be indifferent to their deaths, or even be happy about it. This is meant to visually dehumanize. This is the lowest of the lowest of the low. This is it, right here. This actually makes me sick
https://twitter.com/alon_mizrahi/status/1763280047316558168
Rather than bite the bullet and carry on with the contract for a modern, fit for purpose piece of vital transport infrastructure that'll deliver intergenerational benefits the idiots chose to piss the thick end of half a billion dollars up against the wall.
/
KiwiRail has written off $382 million in costs associated with the cancelled Interislander replacement project and provisioned a further $60m for winding it down, BusinessDesk reports.
The $442m in costs, detailed in the 2024 half-year results released on Thursday, doesn’t include the cost of exiting the shipbuilding contract with South Korean shipyard Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, which was contracted to build two new ferries for $551m.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/kiwirail-slumps-to-407m-loss-on-interislander-write-offs/XJKXIBEISRAPRENQAPM5ANUNZY/
A bomb has just gone off in uk politics in the form of George Galloway winning the Rochdale by election , the first thing he said in his acceptance speech was " this is for Gaza " and he wont be mincing his words on the subject when he gets to parliament !!
Good news !! Keir will be shitting himself .cant wait .