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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TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVOB1Ib6iyA
“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:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSkhlqtmwtw
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…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y533teuhmL8&ab_channel=SomeMoreNews
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQI0E1WCLMU
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