Hardly an addition to "wellbeing".
Couples are taxed on individual income, which makes for an large variation on how households are taxed on the same income, disadvantaging women, usually, who have to stay at home for disabled children or other relatives. One of the few things they could access was the non qualifying spouse share in super, if their older partner retired.
And. They are using this to fund an effective increase for those who already get overseas pensions/super.
Slight correction KJT… spouse is too old to get a job, but too young to retire, or non qualifying spouse is providing full time high level care to qualifying spouse.
This is the situation with my man and myself. There is this… People who are currently included as a non-qualified partner will continue to receive this rate unless their circumstances change ….which might 'protect' me from having to get a (paid) job.
However, when we first discovered that little concealed nugget from the Wellbeing Budget we decided that a) I will refuse the 'non qualifying partner existing arrangement exemption' because, shit, we are only too aware of how absolutely fucking awful it is to see that person enjoying government largesse when yourself does not because of a date on the calendar, and b) ffs, they promised that they would pay a wage to those of us who provide fulltime care to a disabled family member with very high support needs..they did, they did!
They will be paying the Job Seeker Benefit (as means tested) to non working younger spouses, but some will have a carer role that is not paid, and yet which might be. If that happens will that payment also be available to those younger spouses currently (or as at July 2021) eligible to claim partner super?
Who knows. What I do know is that they will say…"Oh, you're fine, we are going to allow existing NQP arrangements to continue."
We have already decided we will not countenance yet another 'Pay this person but not that because… date/cause of disability/preparedness to circumvent the system for monetary gain etc.' There's been way too much of that already.
Despite loud protestations from some of this Current Mob over the way National responded to paying family carers of non ACC disabled with high/very high care needs back in 2013 and promises made in Manifestos in 2017 and further assurances last year, I have heard absolutely nothing that persuades me that this lot are not just another government who will basically tell non ACC disabled to go away and die. As quick as, if you please.
Betcha the Greens back down on their grievous and irremediable medical condition who is in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability standbefore the final reading of the EOLC Bill.
I'll take the bet, Seymour has said that will be taken out and Greens have restated their position in the second reading debate.
And I would not be pessimistic about the move to individual entitlement for super. It should strengthen the case of non qualifying spouses in the role of carer receiving a wage – given they are not eligible for the benefit as they are not available for work. And the saving made by not paying super to the younger spouse (if either of them are working) will make funds available in this instance.
That, and the principle of individual entitlement, should strengthen the case of younger couples where a partner cares for the other – particularly when this is a long term scenario rather than the more temporary couple on benefit.
Sadly I would not be confident about your own situation – maybe argue for natural justice (equal pay for equal work until reaching retirement age) and maybe a grant on "retirement" to those who have done this for years, much if not all of it unpaid.
Basically, because my spouse was a carer to my high needs son, he had to be home schooled and no one else would care for him, for many years, there are no jobs for her.
My son has actually got to a stage, all credit to her, that he doesn't need the care, so she will not get the carer payments, but with so long out of the job market, she is pretty much stuffed as far as getting a job.
Of course she has the minimum in KiwiSaver, which I have contributed from my wage.
Even worse if I kick the bucket and she has to live on the miserly unemployment benefit.
This is one of the many things that convince me Labour hadn't abandoned Neo-liberalism.
Disability care/equipment/home modifications was one of the first of the taxpayer funded services that was contracted out to 'Providers'. Some for- profit and some masquerading as 'charities'. All constantly whining to their paymasters that there isn't enough funding and all can simply refuse to provide care if the person's needs are too high for them to provide on the cheap.
Waste enough time searching and you'll find the same names popping up over and over again. This year they're working for a provider and next year for a NASC. Nekminnit the same name appears in the Misery of Health Disability Support Services newsletter having recently been appointed as Policy Analyst in the Making Disabled People's Life Even More Shit department. A few years of that then they're mentioned in dispatches for some Provider lobby group.
A revolving door…a wonder they don't meet themselves coming back.
This Current Mob simply don't have what it takes to undo this structure…its entrenched and none of the MPs have much experience.
Unless its old Thin Blue Line Greg O'Connor…who enjoyed a bit of kudos being on the board or whatever of the Charity caring for his disabled son.
The last time I did any serious checking into Hohepa it transpired that the yearly funding from the government for providing services was well over $100,000 per client. That's per client.
Imagine if those of us who provided the same (or better) level of support were paid even a quarter of that for what we do???
Respect to you and your spouse KJT, and fwiw I'm pretty sure she could get a job somewhere in the disability sector…perhaps as one of the new upper level teacher aides?…not that it would be something I'd be rushing to do…
The reason for current practice is obvious. It provides a couple rate where neither person is working.
The partner no longer able to be covered by the couple rate has recourse to eligibility for unemployment benefit if the income of a partner is low (as it is on super where there is little other income). So they are bringing in a bit of means testing in these instances.
This will cost them more in some cases and less in others.
It will get complicated if there are children involved, or care situations.
Basically it means I cannot retire until my wife is 65, which could be a real problem given past work injuries. Which I see with other people ACC call “degenerative, age related”.
If she is not working and you were on super, she would be eligible for the Job Seeker Benefit, but that is means tested against the partners income (if you have little income other than Super she would qualify for it).
Super single rate + single rate benefit would be similar to couples super.
$633 couples super, $601 if one partner does not qualify. Single super (sharing) $380 + benefit $219.
"disadvantaging women, usually, who have to stay at home for disabled children"
Cost to us of this has been 15 years of spouse's income – let's say $700k after tax. In addition $150k for neurosurgery overseas – by far the best treatment available and not funded by the NZ health system – in fact actively obstructed by patch-protecting doctors. Add to that thousands in shoes which are worn out rapidly and $80/week for essential gym sessions for post-operative strengthening – also not funded, while ACC shells out for rugby players.
Total compensation from the govt? $90/fortnight child disability allowance. So not at all surprised if this super cut (when I get to qualify) turns out to be another piece of radical injustice.
International award winning journalist Nicky Hager faced another round of character smears recently …. Ignoring the truth of the matter the ugly underside of NZ regurgitated all the dishonest John Key 'attack the messenger' lines .
Is it racism that allows both the war crime to take place …. and the dishonest defence of it .??
“This material gives a graphic and upsetting picture of a US helicopter gunship firing into a civilian village in which frightened woman and children were seen running and huddling in groups”, Nicky Hager said.
What a despicable U$ war crime toady is Judith Collins: ” Judith Collins should not be our Bolsonaro over Venezuela … she is backing Elliot Abrams and co at present. ”
Trump Adviser Grilled Over Cover Up of Latin America Massacre
“This material gives a graphic and upsetting picture of a US helicopter gunship firing into a civilian village in which frightened woman and children were seen running and huddling in groups”, Nicky Hager said.
Similar to Wikileaks gunship murder sequence in IRAQ. Our forces are guilty of war crimes! shame!
There is a 7 million dollar inquiry in to what happened that the current Government set up. Do you not have confidence this will get to the bottom of what actually happened?
Then the question becomes why spend 7 million dollars of taxpayer money when that could have been done without the inquiry.
A long running and expensive inquiry feels good. The government can say "we did everything asked of us, we went the extra mile and we got to the truth". That such a statement may be bullshit won't change anything. But yeah, $7 million buys a lot of whitewash.
Reasons why we had to do the enquiry even if the NZDF will be whitewashed at the end of it:
1. Good governance. If there's an incident in which NZ troops kill a bunch of civilians with no enemy combatants involved, it must be investigated.
2. International obligations. NZ has a lot of credibility internationally for honest dealing. Covering up a possible war crime damages that credibility.
3. A lot more information about what happened is now in the public domain, so regardless of the amount of whitewash that gets applied in the final report, those of us who've been paying attention now know that yes the NZ SAS is quite capable of calling in air strikes on civilians, and yes the NZDF is quite capable of covering that up.
I fear you are right PM but it need not be that way.
My instincts tell me the Americans muzzled the NZDF thus preventing them from admitting what happened. It's to be remembered that it was the bullets etc. fired from the US helicopters which started the little killing spree. From that point, the ground situation appeared to end up out of control. That's my broad reading of what happened and I've read a lot about it including "Hit and Run".
So, why didn't the NZDF show some guts and acknowledge the mistake? Instead of undermining public confidence, I would venture to suggest that once the truth came out most NZers would have admired them for fessing up.
We stood up to the Yanks once before and despite the bitching and sulking we came out on top. NZ was admired around the world for standing up to the bullies.
My understanding is they were originally classified by the US military as top secret but have now been declassified – at least in part – so now able to release. Pretty sure it was something like that….
The victims who had their kids killed and maimed don't Gosman ….
And why would an idiot like yourself …. who laughs about 40000 siege /sanctions deaths … sorry make that 500000 deaths if I bring in past Iraq victims, to add to the recent Venezuela victims …
Why would an fool like yourself who laughs like Eliot Abrams care about NZ killing a few civilians"" …
lie-a-lot Gosbrams … 'They died because of Socialism' … 'Israel has never committed war crimes' … 'usa all the way'
““The liberal idea has started eating itself,” Putin said at a news conference. “Millions of people live their lives, and those who propagate those ideas are separate from them.””
Speaking after the summit in Osaka concluded on Saturday, Putin charged that Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and a drop of popularity of traditional parties in Europe have been rooted in growing public dismay with mainstream liberal policies.
Well, yeah. He's stating the obvious. The difference is that, unlike Putin, some of us don't find the above to be a good thing.
In Europe and North America, the establishment of social liberalism (often called simply "liberalism" in the United States) became a key component in the expansion of the welfare state.[20] Today, liberal parties continue to wield power and influence throughout the world. However, liberalism still has challenges to overcome in Africa and Asia. The fundamental elements of contemporary society have liberal roots. The early waves of liberalism popularised economic individualism while expanding constitutionalgovernment and parliamentaryauthority.[13] Liberals sought and established a constitutional order that prized important individual freedoms, such as freedom of speech and freedom of association; an independent judiciary and public trial by jury; and the abolition of aristocratic privileges.[13] Later waves of modern liberal thought and struggle were strongly influenced by the need to expand civil rights.[21] Liberals have advocated gender and racial equality in their drive to promote civil rights and a global civil rights movement in the 20th century achieved several objectives towards both goals. Continental European liberalism is divided between moderates and progressives, with the moderates tending to elitism and the progressives supporting the universalisation of fundamental institutions, such as universal suffrage, universal education and the expansion of property rights. Over time, the moderates displaced the progressives as the main guardians of continental European liberalism.
In general, those are things I value, with just a few caveats around things like free markets, where government interventions and regulations are needed to prevent abuses by the powerful.
I suggest that what people today have become disenchanted with is in fact the loss of liberalism and the rise of corporatocracy. But dictatorial authoritarians have become adept at misrepresenting where the problems lie and harnessing the anger to further their own interests. Their interests do not coincide with making life better for those they have duped.
Ahh the issue of the fearful white minority ™ they would like to keep what they and their ancestors had, would like to not share with anyone not them, and can't do so in a liberal democracy. Hence the need for strongmen that will take the world back to the 18 century and earlier if they could where the landowner had multiple votes (as per the properties they owned), women knew their place and the servants too, and the only sexy time that was ok was for men who fornicated for procreation or paid a prositute / mistress……(nothing gay of course).
Sadly, the same people that advocate these strongmen have a hard time understanding that women and servants might not be inclined to go back to these places to depend on the man for food and shelter, and sadder even they seem to truly believe that they don't belong to the servants class but will be those that get to keep their rights. Oh well to each their delusions.
The number of ANZ ads has really ramped up over the last couple of weeks. I think they sense the damage done in the eyes of the public, after 30 years we are finally on the move and will make clear why.
The big cheese at ANZ was a bit of a silly boy. He wrongly charged back to the company a couple of rides in a chauffeured car to a couple of dos. Just a taxi thing really.
Oh, and in moving around some bottles of expensive wine which had to be moved and stored somehow in the confusion of comings and goings that got put into the wrong list. Bloody paperwork!
Fortunately the Really Big Cheese found out about the mistakes and having the Highest Ethics, Standards and Morals said, “David, I know you’ve done nothing wrong, but we have the highest ethics, morals and standards which we all operate by, but what if someone hears about your slight mistakes and says it shows we don’t have the highest ethics, morals and standards?
If you leave after your outstanding innings with the good sort of deal you’ve had the public will see we’re upholding those highest standards and, heck, maybe even see us being the white knights upholding all the good things even though there’s been nothing wrong done, just a couple of silly misunderstandings.
It could be that maybe the company’s reputations will even be enhanced by our decisive upright actions. We know you always put the company first.”
David Hisco rides off into anonymity and St John climbs onto a higher pedestal.
When Key was our DP prime minister …. if a $700 million usa dollar gift /grift ( over $1 Billion NZ) landed in a ANZ personal account that he had …. and it came from china, russia or who cares where …… then Anz would have kept nice and quiet for him.
Its what they did for the Malaysian Prime Minister …. and now as a director Key can keep nice and quiet for ANZ.
“ANZ Bank is the most atrocious example of this failure, since the Australian regulators have done absolutely nothing to investigate, let alone chastise or punish blatant failures by this bank to control vast money laundering activity in a subsidiary where it was the dominant shareholder, namely AmBank.”
“All the top responsible personnel in charge of compliance, executive decisions and customer care at AmBank were on secondment from ANZ”
I know everyone hates John Key on here and everything is his fault, but he did actually get rid of Hisco. My only gripe is that it took him too long to do it. However Hisco had been claiming all these ludicrous expenses for many year before JK got there. Wouldn't surprise me if JK has had some harsh words to some of the directors that turned a blind eye to Hisco over the previous years and also wouldn't surprise me if there was a bit more fall out to come…possibly some 'resignations'.
Mmmm – the Omaha holiday home $$$ on the one hand quite neatly balances the Auckland home $$$ saving to Hisco's wife – or is that all just a really unfortunate coincidence?
I can believe it, but it's not as bad as it looks. For example, my joint account clocks up thousands per month, which is paid the following month and incurs no interest. So the "debt" only lasts a month or so, but it's still debt. Also, a lot of businesses have credit card accounts. I have a work credit card, like other managers where I work – I don't buy much with it, but across the whole organisation it must come to a fair bit every month (which also gets paid the following month so is a very brief "debt").
Yes, it would be more useful to know what proportion of that $43 bil is currently incurring interest. I'm guessing it would be quite a horrifying number (for us, not the banks – to them it would be an awesomely profitable number).
Ahh, $43billion transaction volume seems a lot more plausible.
What do the card issuers clip the ticket for on every transaction? 2%? So over $800 million gross income from transaction fees, on which they pay $7 million tax. That explains the endless card offers I get deluged with.
Fuuuuuck! I had thought it was only American Express that gouged like that! I already had a habit of trying to pay small businesses in cash, but now I'm going to make more of a point of it.
Well, yeah. After she's taken a reasonable wage for herself out of the gross profit, the credit card companies are probably making more from her business than she is.
Angst on the right: "Around the world old school conservative parties are in trouble. In the United States, Donald Trump has rewritten the Republican rule book and in Britain, Nigel Farage's Brexit Party is more popular than the Tories. These outliers have replaced traditional conservatism with a populist agenda."
"Forms of this populism have taken over in Italy, Hungary and Poland and are rising in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and France. The belief something fundamentally important has been lost in the brave new global world lies behind them." Really?? Clinging to the past is fundamentally important? Only to those incapable of facing the future with the right attitude.
"In New Zealand, National still covers the traditional conservative ground, although you wonder what a more populist National Party would look like." NZ First, obviously. Duh!!
"Populism is difficult to define. It means different things in different countries. It is generally an appeal to gut reactions about race, national culture, class, immigration and globalism. Some glibly call it the rage of white men who see their entitlements and privilege threatened but, speaking from experience, most white men are not that entitled and not very privileged either." True.
"The politics of populism is also usually nostalgic, building on a myth the old order was working fine until power shifted to people with some crazy ideas." Yeah, but populism is shifting power to people with some crazy ideas too. Two wrongs don't make a right.
The author flounders around for a while in search of good ideas, fails, then winds up. But at least he's trying to use his intellect – swimming upstream against the National flow. God loves a trier. Conservatives, not so much. Stationary, going nowhere.
Planning and building 100,000 homes over a decade in our fastest growing cities requires much, much more than just finding people and building materials to build houses. It requires massive capital investment in transport, water, earthworks and other infrastructure….
After the mid 1980s, the Government saw the private sector as the provider of housing and saw any infrastructure as a cost that needed to be borne by those building the new houses and local Government, not the wider taxpaying public. …..
Excellent analysis from Bernard. Twyford caught by catch-22. "Even now, that thinking is infused through Treasury and into the minds of the current Labour leadership, going from Ardern through Finance Minister Grant Robertson to Twyford. That's reflected in their decision to re-sign up to the 20 percent net debt target before the 2017 election."
"The 20 percent number was born in the bruised aftermath of the New Zealand economy's near-bankruptcy experience of the late 1980s and early 1990s when bond vigilantes were a real thing to be feared. The 20 percent number coagulated into policy under Labour's last Finance Minister Michael Cullen and has been adopted reflexively (and I'd say mindlessly) since then by both Labour and National. It has anchored fiscal policy for 30 years and continues to do so."
Mindless adherence to neoliberal orthodoxy by the coalition govt. Failure to learn from history.
"The bond vigilantes have been euthanised by a decade of zero percent interest rates and US$15 trillion of quantitative easing or money printing by central banks in the Northern Hemisphere to buy government bonds. Fund managers all over the world are looking for safe government debt with some sort of yield more than 0.0 percent. The New Zealand Government bond yield fell to a record low of 1.5 percent last week."
"Labour fears being accused of being profligate and of raising the net debt of an already indebted nation, but the Government's net debt is at the bottom of the OECD and the nation's net debt has fallen 20-30 percentage points of GDP in the last decade. Robertson and Ardern argue we are so vulnerable in the event of another GFC or an earthquake that we have to keep our powder dry. But they're thinking as if they were in the offices of Helen Clark or Michael Cullen from 1999 to 2008, when New Zealand's economy and balance sheets were both actually and relatively vulnerable."
Govt by paranoia instead of realism. If govt finances permit us to reinvent socialism, why not give it a try? Because "a very present and known crisis exists right now and is right in front of their noses: a massive shortage of affordable and healthy housing that has consigned 250,000 kids to such poverty that 40,000 of them get so sick each year with respiratory and skin conditions they end up in hospital. Their parents are mired in working or non-working poverty that is impossible to break out of without affordable and healthy housing."
"Our growth cities need re-engineering to improve affordability and reduce carbon emissions. That means creating medium density housing corridors along train lines much closer to city centres that produce hundreds of thousands of new homes. Urban Development Authorites have to work in tandem with city and transport planners to buy up the land along those corridors and fund the building of the infrastructure and housing to make them work."
Bernard targets the financing of how to do this. "Twyford's solution to this infrastructure funding Catch 22 was to try to create Special Purpose Vehicles independent of the Government and the Council that could borrow money in their own rights to fund the infrastructure project by project. The model is the Municipal Utility District (MUD) bodies used in the United States to fund new suburbs and cities. They raise debt from bond markets, get their own credit ratings, and service the debt with targeted rates or fees on residents."
If that model works, why the hell couldn't Twyford get his cabinet colleagues to agree that the recipe is the one to use? Or did they agree in principle, then decide to keep quiet about it prior to getting ready to act. Don't spook the horses? Paranoia…
"Labour fears being accused of being profligate and of raising the net debt of an already indebted nation, but the Government's net debt is at the bottom of the OECD and the nation's net debt has fallen 20-30 percentage points of GDP in the last decade.
That is a favourite claim from National. They have embedded the claim that Labour spends and taxes. People believe it regardless of the evidence.So to stay in power the Labour Governments display careful conservative spending. My hope is that by the next election the current Coalition will remove the brakes and borrow and spend on infrastructure making it possible for less homelessness, less poverty and so on.
Thankfully we will never have to rely on My Hickey to run a country.
Minister Cullen's savings and debt record enabled future governments to recover New Zealand from the GFC, from the demolition by earthquake of our second largest city, from the demolition by earthquake of the rail line and State Highway 1 from Kaikoura to Picton, and massive spending increases in other areas … all the while keeping inflation in check.
And still with enough to survive another earthquake if we are pressed.
The current Minister of Finance has also deliberately expanded the net debt ratio precisely to give the government more headroom for other programmes.
As for housing, this government's track record is strong overall.
That picture shows a truck plowing through maybe 30cm of hail floating on 1.2m of water…..very impressive for all that, a vehicle would not be able to move through 1.5m of pure hail, full stop. So, much of that is hail that has flowed on meltwater down streets to a lower point. But even a fall averaging 10cm would be impressive…
Seen more pics – adjacent flat topped roofs don't have much depth at all. So it looks like a freak collection of hail, flowing down streets over blocked drains. So it's a bit of a media beat up, spectacular for all that…
Whatever happened to overshoot? We get lots of under shoot in the media… …wages no high enough bad, but wages too high no that's good. Neolibs like casting the agenda as under shoot, as it plays into zero govt, higher tax cuts. Since if they argue there is overshoot, planetary resources, overpaid cess, they know the solution is govt pressure cooker valve. And that means regulation and higher taxes. Overshoot management, when a retail over sells and burns their consumers pockets, either high prices or bait switch on quality, consistency, availability, etc. Managing between over and under shooting means some govt, some tax dollars, or in private business regular investment. Essentially the politics of brexit, Trump, are a overwhelm majority getting fedup with under managing govt, with media ignoring over shooting corps, and the political response is to mangle up the system. Trumps Twitter tirades, brexit shut down of parliament. They just don't have a clue how to do govt anymore, routinely rehiring neolib no govt types.
Nothing ventured nothing gain, the heckler years of Trump will cost us more and more.
My old friend Bill Watson was our Sea Shepherd national coordinator awhile, when the Japs arrested Pete Bethune. They got told he would die in a Jap jail – the Yakuza would do the job. So I wrote to our new PM, John Key, and asked him to make sure that didn't happen. Key, to his credit, got Bethune out.
Something that I found interesting, May was a strong month for new residential mortgage lending. It is the first time since this series begin (Aug 2014), that first home buyers have borrowed more than investors. It was also a record month for the other owner occupier category.
src: https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/c31
One more to supplement. I call this the first home buyer "highly leveraged" ratio. Basically, I take the amount borrowed by first home buyers that is greater than 80% LVR and divide it by the total amount borrowed by first home buyers. It continues to trend higher.
The driest 2 month in the Auckland on record the dry spell is a concern for Auckland cause climate change.
Antarctica is melting fast it is a big worry for our Pacific Island cousin the cause is human caused climate change this fast Global warming is affecting the start of the food chain the micro organisms.
Cool that Amazon is making the new TVs series follow up of the Movie Lord of the rings kia ora.
There you go the skill shortage was created by short sighted people canceling the traditional trade training program.
I think paying a bounty on plastic rubbish is needed that will clean up our environment this will help us get to a environmental sustainable economy.
The new Sky Waka on Mount Ruapehu is great for boosting tourism in the region all year instead of just in the winter months.
That's not cool all that waste water pouring into the great lake is not cool.T
Paul Goldsmith I know you lot were focused on the upper incomes growth thanks for confirming my theory. Paye tax cut that the wealthy gained the most from and raised gst that hits the poor people hardest .
As for living cost they Have risen sharply under national it's hard to live out there in Aotearoa now.
InTaupo who has a suerage main running close to a big water way I know it was built years ago but what a stupid design I say all waste water assets need to be audited to see if they will break a stuff our environment.
I,,, we have to look after the mental health of our men the construction industry is having a bit of a rise in this problem Its good that our government has increased investment in the mental health system.
The Alexandria Cortiz thing with the Spanish preacher running a story contrary to her story shows me something stinks with the Spanish preachers.???????????????????????.
I agree getting more Wahine in the construction industry is a must and the boys have to change their attitude to Wahine to get more Wahine in the industry it good for equality and the skill shortage of the trade workers.
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So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Kiwis planning a swim or heading out on a boat this summer should remember to stop and think about water safety, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop and ACC and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand’s beaches, lakes and rivers are some of the most beautiful in the ...
The Government is urging Kiwis to drive safely this summer and reminding motorists that Police will be out in force to enforce the road rules, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This time of year can be stressful and result in poor decision-making on our roads. Whether you are travelling to see ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Comment: I’ve been digging up dirt over the past few weekends. I plan to dig up more over summer.As global geo-politics heats up, I’ve impulsively turned to tending my wee patch of the world. The world is complex and messy. But I’m determined my quarter acre won’t be. Apparently, this is ...
Winston Peters was 47 when he founded NZ First. David Seymour is 41. “It’s probably unlikely I’ll still be in Parliament when I’m 47,” he tells Newsroom.“I always said, I have no intention of being a Member of Parliament when I’m 70-something.”In saying that, Seymour has already exceeded his own ...
Asia Pacific ReportSilent Night is a well-known Christmas carol that tells of a peaceful and silent night in Bethlehem, referring to the first Christmas more than 2000 years ago. It is now 2024, and it was again a silent night in Bethlehem last night, reports Al Jazeera’s Nisa Ibrahim. ...
Summer resissue: Has the country changed all that much in three decades? Loveni Enari compares his two New Zealands. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...
Summer reissue: Alex Casey goes on a killer journey aboard the Tormore Express.The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.It was a dark and ...
Summer reissue: Speed puzzling is like a marathon for the mind – intense, demanding, surprisingly exhausting. But does turning it into a sport destroy it as a relaxing pastime? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...
Summer reissue: In October, we counted down the top 100 New Zealand TV shows of the 21st century so far (read more about the process here). Here’s the list in full, for your holiday reading pleasure. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue ...
Summer reissue: Told in one crucial moment from every year, by The Spinoff’s founder Duncan Greive. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.2014: An ...
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The Court of Appeal has dismissed Mike Smith’s “ambitious” climate claim against Attorney-General Judith Collins.Smith, a Māori climate activist, and Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu elder, appealed a High Court decision that found his claims against the Crown – that its action on climate change was inadequate – untenable.The Appeal Court’s ...
Trish McKelvey is listed 139 times in the index of the New Zealand women’s cricket tome The Warm Sun On My Face, authored by Trevor Auger and Adrienne Simpson.She wrote the foreword for the book and headlines two chapters addressing crucial events in the evolution of the sport.McKelvey’s appointment as New Zealand ...
Summer reissue: The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please ...
Summer reissue: You really won’t guess how it ends. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. First published October 4, 2024. Parliament’s Economic Development, Science ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary-Rose McLaren, Professor of Teaching and Learning and Head of Program, Early Childhood Education, Victoria University Collin Quinn Lomax/ Shutterstock Some years ago, my daughter was set a maths problem: how much does it cost to drive a family of ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Nicole Driessen, Postdoctoral Researcher in Radio Astronomy, University of Sydney Tayla Walsh/Pexels With billions of children around the world anxiously waiting for their presents, Father Christmas (or Santa) and his reindeer must be travelling at breakneck speeds to deliver them ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Higgins, Professor & Director, Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University Feeling unsure about your child going to a sleepover is completely normal. You might be worried about how well you know the host family, how they manage supervision or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Risk & Resilience, UNSW Sydney Exactly 50 years ago, on Christmas Eve 1974, Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin and left a trail of devastation. It remains one of the most destructive natural events in Australia’s history. Wind ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Irmine Keta Rotimi, Doctoral Candidate, Marketing and International Business department, Auckland University of Technology Videos of children opening boxes of toys and playing with them have become a feature of online marketing – making stars out of children as young as two. ...
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Summer reissue: Alex Casey chats to Nadia Lim and Carlos Bagrie about the challenges of life on a 1,200-acre farm in Central Otago, and why they continue to share it with the nation in Nadia’s Farm. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue ...
Summer reissue: Dominion Road has made a name for itself as a destination for authentic, regionally-specific Chinese food. How did it get here?The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign ...
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By Emma Andrews, Henare te Ua Māori journalism intern at RNZ News From being the headline to creating them, Moana Maniapoto has walked a rather rocky road of swinging between both sides of the media. Known for her award-winning current affairs show Te Ao with Moana on Whakaata Māori, and ...
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Sneaky cut to super, for a retiree whose spouse is too old to get a job, but too young to retire.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/newsroom/factsheets/budget/factsheet-super-and-vp-modernisation-2019.pdf
Hardly an addition to "wellbeing".
Couples are taxed on individual income, which makes for an large variation on how households are taxed on the same income, disadvantaging women, usually, who have to stay at home for disabled children or other relatives. One of the few things they could access was the non qualifying spouse share in super, if their older partner retired.
And. They are using this to fund an effective increase for those who already get overseas pensions/super.
Again an inconsistent approach.
Slight correction KJT… spouse is too old to get a job, but too young to retire, or non qualifying spouse is providing full time high level care to qualifying spouse.
This is the situation with my man and myself. There is this… People who are currently included as a non-qualified partner will continue to receive this rate unless their circumstances change ….which might 'protect' me from having to get a (paid) job.
However, when we first discovered that little concealed nugget from the Wellbeing Budget we decided that a) I will refuse the 'non qualifying partner existing arrangement exemption' because, shit, we are only too aware of how absolutely fucking awful it is to see that person enjoying government largesse when yourself does not because of a date on the calendar, and b) ffs, they promised that they would pay a wage to those of us who provide fulltime care to a disabled family member with very high support needs..they did, they did!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12132665
Your case is going to be interesting.
They will be paying the Job Seeker Benefit (as means tested) to non working younger spouses, but some will have a carer role that is not paid, and yet which might be. If that happens will that payment also be available to those younger spouses currently (or as at July 2021) eligible to claim partner super?
Who knows. What I do know is that they will say…"Oh, you're fine, we are going to allow existing NQP arrangements to continue."
We have already decided we will not countenance yet another 'Pay this person but not that because… date/cause of disability/preparedness to circumvent the system for monetary gain etc.' There's been way too much of that already.
Despite loud protestations from some of this Current Mob over the way National responded to paying family carers of non ACC disabled with high/very high care needs back in 2013 and promises made in Manifestos in 2017 and further assurances last year, I have heard absolutely nothing that persuades me that this lot are not just another government who will basically tell non ACC disabled to go away and die. As quick as, if you please.
Betcha the Greens back down on their grievous and irremediable medical condition who is in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability stand before the final reading of the EOLC Bill.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/112375359/greens-will-support-euthanasia-bill-through-second-reading
I'll take the bet, Seymour has said that will be taken out and Greens have restated their position in the second reading debate.
And I would not be pessimistic about the move to individual entitlement for super. It should strengthen the case of non qualifying spouses in the role of carer receiving a wage – given they are not eligible for the benefit as they are not available for work. And the saving made by not paying super to the younger spouse (if either of them are working) will make funds available in this instance.
That, and the principle of individual entitlement, should strengthen the case of younger couples where a partner cares for the other – particularly when this is a long term scenario rather than the more temporary couple on benefit.
Sadly I would not be confident about your own situation – maybe argue for natural justice (equal pay for equal work until reaching retirement age) and maybe a grant on "retirement" to those who have done this for years, much if not all of it unpaid.
Basically, because my spouse was a carer to my high needs son, he had to be home schooled and no one else would care for him, for many years, there are no jobs for her.
My son has actually got to a stage, all credit to her, that he doesn't need the care, so she will not get the carer payments, but with so long out of the job market, she is pretty much stuffed as far as getting a job.
Of course she has the minimum in KiwiSaver, which I have contributed from my wage.
Even worse if I kick the bucket and she has to live on the miserly unemployment benefit.
This is one of the many things that convince me Labour hadn't abandoned Neo-liberalism.
….Labour hadn't abandoned Neo-liberalism.
Disability care/equipment/home modifications was one of the first of the taxpayer funded services that was contracted out to 'Providers'. Some for- profit and some masquerading as 'charities'. All constantly whining to their paymasters that there isn't enough funding and all can simply refuse to provide care if the person's needs are too high for them to provide on the cheap.
Waste enough time searching and you'll find the same names popping up over and over again. This year they're working for a provider and next year for a NASC. Nekminnit the same name appears in the Misery of Health Disability Support Services newsletter having recently been appointed as Policy Analyst in the Making Disabled People's Life Even More Shit department. A few years of that then they're mentioned in dispatches for some Provider lobby group.
A revolving door…a wonder they don't meet themselves coming back.
This Current Mob simply don't have what it takes to undo this structure…its entrenched and none of the MPs have much experience.
Unless its old Thin Blue Line Greg O'Connor…who enjoyed a bit of kudos being on the board or whatever of the Charity caring for his disabled son.
The last time I did any serious checking into Hohepa it transpired that the yearly funding from the government for providing services was well over $100,000 per client. That's per client.
Imagine if those of us who provided the same (or better) level of support were paid even a quarter of that for what we do???
Respect to you and your spouse KJT, and fwiw I'm pretty sure she could get a job somewhere in the disability sector…perhaps as one of the new upper level teacher aides?…not that it would be something I'd be rushing to do…
The reason for current practice is obvious. It provides a couple rate where neither person is working.
The partner no longer able to be covered by the couple rate has recourse to eligibility for unemployment benefit if the income of a partner is low (as it is on super where there is little other income). So they are bringing in a bit of means testing in these instances.
This will cost them more in some cases and less in others.
It will get complicated if there are children involved, or care situations.
Basically it means I cannot retire until my wife is 65, which could be a real problem given past work injuries. Which I see with other people ACC call “degenerative, age related”.
If she is not working and you were on super, she would be eligible for the Job Seeker Benefit, but that is means tested against the partners income (if you have little income other than Super she would qualify for it).
Super single rate + single rate benefit would be similar to couples super.
$633 couples super, $601 if one partner does not qualify. Single super (sharing) $380 + benefit $219.
"disadvantaging women, usually, who have to stay at home for disabled children"
Cost to us of this has been 15 years of spouse's income – let's say $700k after tax. In addition $150k for neurosurgery overseas – by far the best treatment available and not funded by the NZ health system – in fact actively obstructed by patch-protecting doctors. Add to that thousands in shoes which are worn out rapidly and $80/week for essential gym sessions for post-operative strengthening – also not funded, while ACC shells out for rugby players.
Total compensation from the govt? $90/fortnight child disability allowance. So not at all surprised if this super cut (when I get to qualify) turns out to be another piece of radical injustice.
International award winning journalist Nicky Hager faced another round of character smears recently …. Ignoring the truth of the matter the ugly underside of NZ regurgitated all the dishonest John Key 'attack the messenger' lines .
Is it racism that allows both the war crime to take place …. and the dishonest defence of it .??
“This material gives a graphic and upsetting picture of a US helicopter gunship firing into a civilian village in which frightened woman and children were seen running and huddling in groups”, Nicky Hager said.
The NZSAS, which led the raid and authorised all air attacks, knew about the presence of large numbers of civilians and their injuries immediately or soon after but it has never admitted to this nor offered medical assistance.” https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/06/30/nzdfs-key-evidence-in-operation-burnham-issue-is-not-what-it-was-made-out-to-be-nicky-hager/
http://www.nickyhager.info/foia/
Cornel West makes some very relevant points about a military mindset … neo lib corruption / inequality … and resurgent white supremacist sickness.
We need to stop encouraging them and stay out of their evil wars.
Judith Collins should not be our Bolsonaro over Venezuela … she is backing Eliot Abrhams and co at present.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4i61_12SGY
What a despicable U$ war crime toady is Judith Collins: ” Judith Collins should not be our Bolsonaro over Venezuela … she is backing Elliot Abrams and co at present. ”
Trump Adviser Grilled Over Cover Up of Latin America Massacre
“This material gives a graphic and upsetting picture of a US helicopter gunship firing into a civilian village in which frightened woman and children were seen running and huddling in groups”, Nicky Hager said.
Similar to Wikileaks gunship murder sequence in IRAQ. Our forces are guilty of war crimes! shame!
Nore on Abram's war criminal record:
There is a 7 million dollar inquiry in to what happened that the current Government set up. Do you not have confidence this will get to the bottom of what actually happened?
I have confidence that back-room appeals to "the national interest" and "let's not undermine public confidence in the NZDF" to win out in the end.
Then the question becomes why spend 7 million dollars of taxpayer money when that could have been done without the inquiry.
Then the question becomes why spend 7 million dollars of taxpayer money when that could have been done without the inquiry.
A long running and expensive inquiry feels good. The government can say "we did everything asked of us, we went the extra mile and we got to the truth". That such a statement may be bullshit won't change anything. But yeah, $7 million buys a lot of whitewash.
Reasons why we had to do the enquiry even if the NZDF will be whitewashed at the end of it:
1. Good governance. If there's an incident in which NZ troops kill a bunch of civilians with no enemy combatants involved, it must be investigated.
2. International obligations. NZ has a lot of credibility internationally for honest dealing. Covering up a possible war crime damages that credibility.
3. A lot more information about what happened is now in the public domain, so regardless of the amount of whitewash that gets applied in the final report, those of us who've been paying attention now know that yes the NZ SAS is quite capable of calling in air strikes on civilians, and yes the NZDF is quite capable of covering that up.
I fear you are right PM but it need not be that way.
My instincts tell me the Americans muzzled the NZDF thus preventing them from admitting what happened. It's to be remembered that it was the bullets etc. fired from the US helicopters which started the little killing spree. From that point, the ground situation appeared to end up out of control. That's my broad reading of what happened and I've read a lot about it including "Hit and Run".
So, why didn't the NZDF show some guts and acknowledge the mistake? Instead of undermining public confidence, I would venture to suggest that once the truth came out most NZers would have admired them for fessing up.
We stood up to the Yanks once before and despite the bitching and sulking we came out on top. NZ was admired around the world for standing up to the bullies.
It is the US military who have released the video that the NZ ones refused to.
My understanding is they were originally classified by the US military as top secret but have now been declassified – at least in part – so now able to release. Pretty sure it was something like that….
The victims who had their kids killed and maimed don't Gosman ….
And why would an idiot like yourself …. who laughs about 40000 siege /sanctions deaths … sorry make that 500000 deaths if I bring in past Iraq victims, to add to the recent Venezuela victims …
Why would an fool like yourself who laughs like Eliot Abrams care about NZ killing a few civilians"" …
lie-a-lot Gosbrams … 'They died because of Socialism' … 'Israel has never committed war crimes' … 'usa all the way'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrcT3GJuh0A
““The liberal idea has started eating itself,” Putin said at a news conference. “Millions of people live their lives, and those who propagate those ideas are separate from them.””
https://globalnews.ca/news/5445734/vladimir-putin-liberalism-g20/
Speaking after the summit in Osaka concluded on Saturday, Putin charged that Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and a drop of popularity of traditional parties in Europe have been rooted in growing public dismay with mainstream liberal policies.
Well, yeah. He's stating the obvious. The difference is that, unlike Putin, some of us don't find the above to be a good thing.
Use FF + addon
When it disappears it will return under another name
Let's take a moment to remind ourselves what the values of liberalism really are:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism
In general, those are things I value, with just a few caveats around things like free markets, where government interventions and regulations are needed to prevent abuses by the powerful.
I suggest that what people today have become disenchanted with is in fact the loss of liberalism and the rise of corporatocracy. But dictatorial authoritarians have become adept at misrepresenting where the problems lie and harnessing the anger to further their own interests. Their interests do not coincide with making life better for those they have duped.
Ahh the issue of the fearful white minority ™ they would like to keep what they and their ancestors had, would like to not share with anyone not them, and can't do so in a liberal democracy. Hence the need for strongmen that will take the world back to the 18 century and earlier if they could where the landowner had multiple votes (as per the properties they owned), women knew their place and the servants too, and the only sexy time that was ok was for men who fornicated for procreation or paid a prositute / mistress……(nothing gay of course).
Sadly, the same people that advocate these strongmen have a hard time understanding that women and servants might not be inclined to go back to these places to depend on the man for food and shelter, and sadder even they seem to truly believe that they don't belong to the servants class but will be those that get to keep their rights. Oh well to each their delusions.
Paywalled, but it looks like Key is running scared from scrutiny and is hiding behind the skirts of the PR industry.
Lol.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12245236
The number of ANZ ads has really ramped up over the last couple of weeks. I think they sense the damage done in the eyes of the public, after 30 years we are finally on the move and will make clear why.
The image trying to be created:
The big cheese at ANZ was a bit of a silly boy. He wrongly charged back to the company a couple of rides in a chauffeured car to a couple of dos. Just a taxi thing really.
Oh, and in moving around some bottles of expensive wine which had to be moved and stored somehow in the confusion of comings and goings that got put into the wrong list. Bloody paperwork!
Fortunately the Really Big Cheese found out about the mistakes and having the Highest Ethics, Standards and Morals said, “David, I know you’ve done nothing wrong, but we have the highest ethics, morals and standards which we all operate by, but what if someone hears about your slight mistakes and says it shows we don’t have the highest ethics, morals and standards?
If you leave after your outstanding innings with the good sort of deal you’ve had the public will see we’re upholding those highest standards and, heck, maybe even see us being the white knights upholding all the good things even though there’s been nothing wrong done, just a couple of silly misunderstandings.
It could be that maybe the company’s reputations will even be enhanced by our decisive upright actions. We know you always put the company first.”
David Hisco rides off into anonymity and St John climbs onto a higher pedestal.
When Key was our DP prime minister …. if a $700 million usa dollar gift /grift ( over $1 Billion NZ) landed in a ANZ personal account that he had …. and it came from china, russia or who cares where …… then Anz would have kept nice and quiet for him.
Its what they did for the Malaysian Prime Minister …. and now as a director Key can keep nice and quiet for ANZ.
“ANZ Bank is the most atrocious example of this failure, since the Australian regulators have done absolutely nothing to investigate, let alone chastise or punish blatant failures by this bank to control vast money laundering activity in a subsidiary where it was the dominant shareholder, namely AmBank.”
“All the top responsible personnel in charge of compliance, executive decisions and customer care at AmBank were on secondment from ANZ”
http://www.sarawakreport.org/2017/07/australia-and-new-zealand-slide-from-their-responsibilities-over-mass-corruption-and-malaysia/
Aside from not whistle blowing on some of the biggest crooks on the planet …..Banks like the ANZ are the funnel for money into tax havens ….
How gutless calling in a PR person to tidy up the mess.
It's a frank admission of disaster and soft corruption, and an inability to address the issues in an honest way.
In short, a portrait of John Key.
I know everyone hates John Key on here and everything is his fault, but he did actually get rid of Hisco. My only gripe is that it took him too long to do it. However Hisco had been claiming all these ludicrous expenses for many year before JK got there. Wouldn't surprise me if JK has had some harsh words to some of the directors that turned a blind eye to Hisco over the previous years and also wouldn't surprise me if there was a bit more fall out to come…possibly some 'resignations'.
Quite. That the dodgy $3.75m capital gain handed to Hisco ending up buying Key's Omaha home is an unfortunate look.
Not sure if that one is that bad, but certainly the ANZ selling the property to Hisco's wife at a few million under rateable value is dodgy
Mmmm – the Omaha holiday home $$$ on the one hand quite neatly balances the Auckland home $$$ saving to Hisco's wife – or is that all just a really unfortunate coincidence?
I'm going with a coincidence that looks bad. #optics
In stuff article about household debt.
They say that cc debt is 43 billion. in NZ.
That means each of 4 million people have a debt of $10,000 each!!!
I am not sure that is credible.
(OR maybe it is the credit limit is 43 billion?)
from the article New Zealanders owe at least $43 billion on their cards.
I can believe it, but it's not as bad as it looks. For example, my joint account clocks up thousands per month, which is paid the following month and incurs no interest. So the "debt" only lasts a month or so, but it's still debt. Also, a lot of businesses have credit card accounts. I have a work credit card, like other managers where I work – I don't buy much with it, but across the whole organisation it must come to a fair bit every month (which also gets paid the following month so is a very brief "debt").
Yes a lot of the debt will be 'transient'
And i hadn't considered business cards.
Still seem a lot though.
Yes, it would be more useful to know what proportion of that $43 bil is currently incurring interest. I'm guessing it would be quite a horrifying number (for us, not the banks – to them it would be an awesomely profitable number).
At at 2%, the cost to charge on the CC, that alone in in the order of $1Billion on 43b
And say 10% not paid in time and interest rate 15% that is another $600mill.
Jeez!!!!
7,257 billion
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/c12
About 1.2 billion interest to the banks.
the43 billion number is the transaction vol of which the cc companies pay around 7 million in tax nice little grift.
Ahh, $43billion transaction volume seems a lot more plausible.
What do the card issuers clip the ticket for on every transaction? 2%? So over $800 million gross income from transaction fees, on which they pay $7 million tax. That explains the endless card offers I get deluged with.
Double that commission rate,the smaller business (local cafe etc) pay around5%.
Fuuuuuck! I had thought it was only American Express that gouged like that! I already had a habit of trying to pay small businesses in cash, but now I'm going to make more of a point of it.
My favorite cafe was complaining to me about the cost,and the problems that arose for her with the corporates not wanting to pay surcharge on cc.
Well, yeah. After she's taken a reasonable wage for herself out of the gross profit, the credit card companies are probably making more from her business than she is.
Thanks P.
Thats better., make more sense.
Still large nos, but 10k per YEAR per CC is feasible.
Got there in the end!!!!
5 million now dv
BG, most kids don't have a CC though.
Many adults have more than one
Eg business, personal, second personal for emergency use
A, $10 k bal for emergency use is unlikely though.
what about those of us that don't have credit cards?
Can we be excluded or would that scare off the credit card holders?
Angst on the right: "Around the world old school conservative parties are in trouble. In the United States, Donald Trump has rewritten the Republican rule book and in Britain, Nigel Farage's Brexit Party is more popular than the Tories. These outliers have replaced traditional conservatism with a populist agenda."
"Forms of this populism have taken over in Italy, Hungary and Poland and are rising in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and France. The belief something fundamentally important has been lost in the brave new global world lies behind them." Really?? Clinging to the past is fundamentally important? Only to those incapable of facing the future with the right attitude.
"In New Zealand, National still covers the traditional conservative ground, although you wonder what a more populist National Party would look like." NZ First, obviously. Duh!!
"Populism is difficult to define. It means different things in different countries. It is generally an appeal to gut reactions about race, national culture, class, immigration and globalism. Some glibly call it the rage of white men who see their entitlements and privilege threatened but, speaking from experience, most white men are not that entitled and not very privileged either." True.
"The politics of populism is also usually nostalgic, building on a myth the old order was working fine until power shifted to people with some crazy ideas." Yeah, but populism is shifting power to people with some crazy ideas too. Two wrongs don't make a right.
"National must be wondering, like the Republicans and Tories, if social trends towards a more diverse and urban society have left it behind." https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/113843911/what-a-populist-national-party-would-look-like
The author flounders around for a while in search of good ideas, fails, then winds up. But at least he's trying to use his intellect – swimming upstream against the National flow. God loves a trier. Conservatives, not so much. Stationary, going nowhere.
TL;DR Martin van Beynen
All I got was a wikipedia page for the latter, some journo in Chch. Relevance?
That's his M.O.
The amateur landlord industry is in disarray. One rep suggests up to 33% of rentals are no longer legal, and another claims it is just 4%.
No wonder there is no faith in this poorly administered and poorly regulated sector.
No wonder there is a housing crisis.
No wonder our housing stock is in such a dire state.
No wonder our communities are under such stress.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2019/06/the-880-million-bill-looming-for-kiwi-landlords.html
This column on Newsroom by Bernard Hickey is a great view on Kiwibuild and why it was bound to fail. A sad position for Phil.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/07/01/657972/how-phil-twyford-lost-housing-and-kiwibuild-failed
Very good article by Hickey.
I expect Labour to 'bite the bullet' and introduce braver policies to address housing ,if re-elected.
Excellent analysis from Bernard. Twyford caught by catch-22. "Even now, that thinking is infused through Treasury and into the minds of the current Labour leadership, going from Ardern through Finance Minister Grant Robertson to Twyford. That's reflected in their decision to re-sign up to the 20 percent net debt target before the 2017 election."
"The 20 percent number was born in the bruised aftermath of the New Zealand economy's near-bankruptcy experience of the late 1980s and early 1990s when bond vigilantes were a real thing to be feared. The 20 percent number coagulated into policy under Labour's last Finance Minister Michael Cullen and has been adopted reflexively (and I'd say mindlessly) since then by both Labour and National. It has anchored fiscal policy for 30 years and continues to do so."
Mindless adherence to neoliberal orthodoxy by the coalition govt. Failure to learn from history.
"The bond vigilantes have been euthanised by a decade of zero percent interest rates and US$15 trillion of quantitative easing or money printing by central banks in the Northern Hemisphere to buy government bonds. Fund managers all over the world are looking for safe government debt with some sort of yield more than 0.0 percent. The New Zealand Government bond yield fell to a record low of 1.5 percent last week."
"Labour fears being accused of being profligate and of raising the net debt of an already indebted nation, but the Government's net debt is at the bottom of the OECD and the nation's net debt has fallen 20-30 percentage points of GDP in the last decade. Robertson and Ardern argue we are so vulnerable in the event of another GFC or an earthquake that we have to keep our powder dry. But they're thinking as if they were in the offices of Helen Clark or Michael Cullen from 1999 to 2008, when New Zealand's economy and balance sheets were both actually and relatively vulnerable."
Govt by paranoia instead of realism. If govt finances permit us to reinvent socialism, why not give it a try? Because "a very present and known crisis exists right now and is right in front of their noses: a massive shortage of affordable and healthy housing that has consigned 250,000 kids to such poverty that 40,000 of them get so sick each year with respiratory and skin conditions they end up in hospital. Their parents are mired in working or non-working poverty that is impossible to break out of without affordable and healthy housing."
"Our growth cities need re-engineering to improve affordability and reduce carbon emissions. That means creating medium density housing corridors along train lines much closer to city centres that produce hundreds of thousands of new homes. Urban Development Authorites have to work in tandem with city and transport planners to buy up the land along those corridors and fund the building of the infrastructure and housing to make them work."
Bernard targets the financing of how to do this. "Twyford's solution to this infrastructure funding Catch 22 was to try to create Special Purpose Vehicles independent of the Government and the Council that could borrow money in their own rights to fund the infrastructure project by project. The model is the Municipal Utility District (MUD) bodies used in the United States to fund new suburbs and cities. They raise debt from bond markets, get their own credit ratings, and service the debt with targeted rates or fees on residents."
If that model works, why the hell couldn't Twyford get his cabinet colleagues to agree that the recipe is the one to use? Or did they agree in principle, then decide to keep quiet about it prior to getting ready to act. Don't spook the horses? Paranoia…
That is a favourite claim from National. They have embedded the claim that Labour spends and taxes. People believe it regardless of the evidence.So to stay in power the Labour Governments display careful conservative spending. My hope is that by the next election the current Coalition will remove the brakes and borrow and spend on infrastructure making it possible for less homelessness, less poverty and so on.
What is Winston First's position on it?
Don't ask me. Nor expect anyone in the media to ask him. Suggest it, and they'd respond "That sounds like investigative journalism. Ever so '70s."
Thankfully we will never have to rely on My Hickey to run a country.
Minister Cullen's savings and debt record enabled future governments to recover New Zealand from the GFC, from the demolition by earthquake of our second largest city, from the demolition by earthquake of the rail line and State Highway 1 from Kaikoura to Picton, and massive spending increases in other areas … all the while keeping inflation in check.
And still with enough to survive another earthquake if we are pressed.
The current Minister of Finance has also deliberately expanded the net debt ratio precisely to give the government more headroom for other programmes.
As for housing, this government's track record is strong overall.
When laws go wrong…
well migrant children in Guantanamo Bay?
why not, right?
https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1448206/
https://twitter.com/mle_goldman/status/1145321487534104576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1145321487534104576&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2019%2F6%2F30%2F1868541%2F-Looks-Like-Trump-Is-Planning-to-Ship-Detained-Kids-to-Gitmo
ahhhh, can you smell the sweet sweet economic anxiety from the white working class man and his missus? I sure can.
nah, the weather is not fucked up, its always did that at this time of hte year…..
https://twitter.com/SciWorld/status/1145417694512058369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1145417694512058369&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2019%2F6%2F30%2F1868539%2F-Unusual-hailstorm-buries-Guadalahara-under-an-accumulation-of-up-to-four-feet-of-hail
https://twitter.com/drandreaskruger/status/1145447930645688327/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1145447930645688327&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2019%2F6%2F30%2F1868539%2F-Unusual-hailstorm-buries-Guadalahara-under-an-accumulation-of-up-to-four-feet-of-hail
https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1145436974184062976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1145436974184062976&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2019%2F6%2F30%2F1868539%2F-Unusual-hailstorm-buries-Guadalahara-under-an-accumulation-of-up-to-four-feet-of-hail
That picture shows a truck plowing through maybe 30cm of hail floating on 1.2m of water…..very impressive for all that, a vehicle would not be able to move through 1.5m of pure hail, full stop. So, much of that is hail that has flowed on meltwater down streets to a lower point. But even a fall averaging 10cm would be impressive…
Seen more pics – adjacent flat topped roofs don't have much depth at all. So it looks like a freak collection of hail, flowing down streets over blocked drains. So it's a bit of a media beat up, spectacular for all that…
Whatever happened to overshoot? We get lots of under shoot in the media… …wages no high enough bad, but wages too high no that's good. Neolibs like casting the agenda as under shoot, as it plays into zero govt, higher tax cuts. Since if they argue there is overshoot, planetary resources, overpaid cess, they know the solution is govt pressure cooker valve. And that means regulation and higher taxes. Overshoot management, when a retail over sells and burns their consumers pockets, either high prices or bait switch on quality, consistency, availability, etc. Managing between over and under shooting means some govt, some tax dollars, or in private business regular investment. Essentially the politics of brexit, Trump, are a overwhelm majority getting fedup with under managing govt, with media ignoring over shooting corps, and the political response is to mangle up the system. Trumps Twitter tirades, brexit shut down of parliament. They just don't have a clue how to do govt anymore, routinely rehiring neolib no govt types.
Nothing ventured nothing gain, the heckler years of Trump will cost us more and more.
Amateur day at Kiwiblog as they forget to post the General Debate.
When the official Pollster and Blogger can't be bothered, you know the National Party are in serious Eeyore mode.
Eeyore Quotes.
YouTube 1:13.
Yep. Yesterday one of them was complaining, with not a hint of reflection, the Australian mass murderer 'ruined the place for everyone'.
The exposure of far right extremists has had a profound effect on Kiwiblog because that exposure shone a spotlight upon them and their behaviour.
They have slithered back under their rocks.
"They have slithered back under their rocks" which is quite worrying really…
Maybe Farrar is trying to limit comments until Newshub have concluded their latest far-right news stories.
OMG Japan starts commercial whaling again.
Here's why: "distribution systems within Japan, from docks to markets, are intricately networked by the Yakuza". https://earthtrust.org/impossiblemissions/homepage/whales-yakuza/
My old friend Bill Watson was our Sea Shepherd national coordinator awhile, when the Japs arrested Pete Bethune. They got told he would die in a Jap jail – the Yakuza would do the job. So I wrote to our new PM, John Key, and asked him to make sure that didn't happen. Key, to his credit, got Bethune out.
The self proclaimed proper progressive left's favourite right winger normalises state murders.
https://twitter.com/LisPower1/status/1145320896300814336
Something that I found interesting, May was a strong month for new residential mortgage lending. It is the first time since this series begin (Aug 2014), that first home buyers have borrowed more than investors. It was also a record month for the other owner occupier category.
src: https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/c31
Chart:
https://i.imgur.com/UZ9WnFV.png
One more to supplement. I call this the first home buyer "highly leveraged" ratio. Basically, I take the amount borrowed by first home buyers that is greater than 80% LVR and divide it by the total amount borrowed by first home buyers. It continues to trend higher.
https://imgur.com/a/lHd5xNN
Nice work there Abba
Kia ora Newshub.
The driest 2 month in the Auckland on record the dry spell is a concern for Auckland cause climate change.
Antarctica is melting fast it is a big worry for our Pacific Island cousin the cause is human caused climate change this fast Global warming is affecting the start of the food chain the micro organisms.
Cool that Amazon is making the new TVs series follow up of the Movie Lord of the rings kia ora.
There you go the skill shortage was created by short sighted people canceling the traditional trade training program.
I think paying a bounty on plastic rubbish is needed that will clean up our environment this will help us get to a environmental sustainable economy.
The new Sky Waka on Mount Ruapehu is great for boosting tourism in the region all year instead of just in the winter months.
That's not cool all that waste water pouring into the great lake is not cool.T
Ka kite ano
Kia ora te ao Maori news.
At so much for positive te ao Maori News tonight Show is all repetitive negative stories that has been thrashed in the Media is this the pro —– tv .
I think that tangata whenua O Aotearoa deserves some positive stories. Sorry about the ——Party collapse
Ka kite ano
Kia ora The Am Show.
Paul Goldsmith I know you lot were focused on the upper incomes growth thanks for confirming my theory. Paye tax cut that the wealthy gained the most from and raised gst that hits the poor people hardest .
As for living cost they Have risen sharply under national it's hard to live out there in Aotearoa now.
InTaupo who has a suerage main running close to a big water way I know it was built years ago but what a stupid design I say all waste water assets need to be audited to see if they will break a stuff our environment.
I,,, we have to look after the mental health of our men the construction industry is having a bit of a rise in this problem Its good that our government has increased investment in the mental health system.
The Alexandria Cortiz thing with the Spanish preacher running a story contrary to her story shows me something stinks with the Spanish preachers.???????????????????????.
I agree getting more Wahine in the construction industry is a must and the boys have to change their attitude to Wahine to get more Wahine in the industry it good for equality and the skill shortage of the trade workers.
Ka kite ano