Kieran McAnulty said that the maximum they could hope for taxing offshore gambling would be $40 million – $100 million short of the Natz magic figures.
Then there's this: it shows 60% or more of foreign buyers would be exempt from the 15% tax.
The opposition party is offering up its tax cuts and other changes within its "Back Pocket Boost" package, aimed at what it calls the "squeezed middle". On the face of it many New Zealanders, particularly families and households earning around the $120,000 a year mark, could benefit substantially.
However, dig a little deeper and there are some fishhooks that may take off the some of the gloss – namely, scrapping half price and free public transport and little extra direct support for low income families.
The package also has to be viewed alongside what people would not be getting – as a counter-factual – that could make a serious dent in that extra income.
The most significant change – one certainly not highlighted in the document or presentation – is the removal of all public transport subsidies; that would also apply to those on low incomes or with disabilities. If a family relies on the bus and has a couple of kids travelling to school and back, those extra costs would eat into any tax relief delivered through threshold changes, and low income whānau would be particularly hard hit.
It certainly looks like a redistribution from the bottom of the pile to the middle. With the gains to the to the top disguised by the fact that they dont get bigger tax cuts than the others. Instead they get the promise of increasing value of their housing portfolios as the market gets heated up. And sneakily, the house price inflation that rewards the top erodes the benefits given to the middle, unless they already own a home.
Looks like the Nats have just got a bit trickier in how exactly they redistribute wealth upwards – which is always their sacred mission.
Actually this trickledown rubbish has been with us since the mid 1980s and the smiling assassin's face could easily be replaced by Ruthless Ruth's and the sense would be unchanged.
How does luxon's claim about the "squeezed middle" stack up? So to sort this out those on higher incomes yet again get a ton more than those on the lowest incomes. If luxon was really concerned about squeezes surely he'd want to deal with the “crushed bottom”? But no, what he does is crush the bottom even more. Idiot.
Not a lot of National Party voters among the squeezed bottom-feeders.
On National’s Tax Cuts [31 August 2023]
Revealingly, National’s chart setting out the potential income gains has omitted everyone earning below $30,000 as if they don’t exist – and that’s an accurate reflection of how the “bottom feeders” simply don’t register on the centre-right’s voter radar. So much so that anyone earning below $45,000 a year would receive only $2 a week extra from National’s tax relief package, and nothing at all from its fiddling with the tax thresholds and from tweaks to the Independent Earner Tax Credit, to Working for Families and to childcare rebates.
Today's classroom visitor is Mr Luxon from the National Party
MR LUXON: If you were naughty you went to boot camp and got scared into being an ordinary hardworking New Zealander. Or you became a bottom-feeder. Don’t become bottom-feeders, boys and girls.
Also, the minimum wage is creeping up to what used to be a high income bracket. So instead of lifting the threshold Labour decides to make even more New Zealanders "significantly dependent on the state" (to use a phrase the right introduced in the 90s) by widening WFF thresholds. On this logic it won't be long before every low income worker falls into the high tax bracket while at the same time qualifying for welfare.
I'm not really knowledgeable about tax brackets and tax bracket creep but what is the big problem with altering the brackets? Is it to do with loss of tax 'income'?
Surely it is a simple matter to work out how the current range of taxes could be altered and by how much to produce X result. it just seems that there is a reluctance to do this.
If I had anything to do with it brackets would be moved in line with CPI or inflation, whichever produced the most fair result to payers and Govt. Instead it is left and left and left then becomes a big deal with possibly big fiscal implications.
But has anyone got the good oil on why there is this reluctance?
"Unemployed people were less likely to vote compared with employed people and those not in the labour force. In the 2011 General Election, 35.2 percent of unemployed people did not vote. This was almost double the percentage of those not in the labour force (17.8 percent) and employed people (19.9 percent). People with personal incomes of $30,000 or less and incomes between $30,001 and $70,000 (22.8 percent and 20.3 percent respectively) were more likely not to vote than people with incomes above $70,000 (9.5 percent)."
And Copenhagen….despite which I had thought, had bicycled since they were invented : )….apparently didnt ! Cars were the new..and cycling was kinda discriminated against.."actively".
Bit like the Netherlands (another I thought Cycled since Adam had a bike! )….until
The trend away from the bicycle and towards motorised transport only began to decrease in the 1970s when Dutch people took to the streets to protest against the high number of child deaths on the roads: in some years over 500 children were killed in collisions with motor vehicles. This protest movement, initiated by Maartje van Putten (later an MEP), was known as the Stop de Kindermoord ("Stop the Child Murder")
The city's urban planning authorities continue to take full account of these priorities. Special attention is given both to climate issues and efforts to ensure maximum application of low-energy standards. Priorities include sustainable drainage systems, recycling rainwater, green roofs and efficient waste management solutions. In city planning, streets and squares are to be designed to encourage cycling and walking rather than driving.
In Ho Chi Mehn City most people biked but as the economy improved the city became full of motorbikes. Now the further growth has seen a shift towards cars. There is no way that the city can cope with as many cars as bikes were.
Well..Indeed. Like China…the "upwardly mobile" ..become immobile in gridlock traffic jams. Air pollution toxic ..
However..with the jams…the toxic smog an all. Change is again…
China was once considered to be the "Kingdom of the Bicycle,” with bikes dominating city streets across the country, but over the past four decades, China’s dramatic economic prosperity and urbanization has seen many people move to motor vehicles as their primary means of transport, contributing to a marked deterioration in air quality.
In case anyone hasn't noticed, urban cycleways in a country as addicted to cars as this, is almost always a massive public and bureaucratic war.
The biggest and most successful cycleways New Zealand has done in the last three years are all off-suburbia:
Auckland State Highway 16 Henderson to downtown, parallel to state highway
Auckland State Highway 1 down south, parallel to state highway
Auckland New Lynn to State Highway 16, mostly parallel to railway tracks
Mt Wellington to Remuera parallel to the rail tracks
Dunedin to Port Chalmers and Dunedin to Portobello
Wellington to Petone (still being built) parallel to State Highway 1
Even a cycling friendly city like Palmerston North has had fights about them.
Anyone who blithely suggests we just need more cycleways, had better come with thousands of supporters, millions in cash, and courage of steel. These are some of the hardest civic fights I've seen.
As a reminder, two years ago in 2021, 108 executives at Fonterra were paid more than $500,000 in 2021, and 16 received more than $1 million. Its directors received at least $175,000 each.
From the Greens' full Agriculture and Rural Affairs policy:
5. Increasing Sector Resilience
Issues
The agricultural sector is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, geopolitical trade headwinds and biosecurity incursions. Increasing climate resilience in the sector through adaptation measures and sustainable practice, as well as diversifying and adding long-term value to our export profile, will ensure Aotearoa New Zealand protects its ability to trade world-leading primary products for generations to come.
Actions
A. A Fair Approach to Trade
5.1. Ensure that international trade arrangements enable the relevant points in this policy (see our Trade policy)
5.2. Support research and development aimed at adding value to primary products.
5.3. Encourage domestic processing and value-add for products grown and produced in New Zealand.
5.4. Support farmers to trade on Aotearoa New Zealand’s environmental brand by continuing to use our clean, green image to market New Zealand produce.
5.5. Encourage all food and fibre products intended for export as 'Product of Aotearoa New Zealand’ to meet or exceed minimum sustainability and animal welfare standards.
5.6. Work to adjust for "food miles" by supporting farmers to reduce emissions released during production and by working to educate overseas consumers about the total environmental impact of the Aotearoa New Zealand goods they purchase.
5.7. Support lower-emissions and clean energy transport options for Aotearoa New Zealand exports, including shipping.
5.8. Ensure consumers can make informed choices to support local food and other agricultural products by supporting mandatory country of origin labelling for all singleingredient imported agricultural and horticultural products.
5.9. Support mandatory certification of imported produce to show that it complies with minimum environmental, safety and health standards along the lines of the current European Union directives.
5.10. Support and improve ways of communicating to the public about the value and importance of buying local.
5.11. Enact empowering legislation to support local food production for local use and local food security, including financial incentives.
Production for chasing commodity price hasn't been good for rural communities,
There is also the software and digital services industries which should be further encouraged as they are growing sectors with significant offshore demand.
5.11 will have to be developed further in discussion I'd imagine but essentially would involve incentivising or funding more smaller market garden style local production, similar to OMG https://www.uptown.co.nz/omg
5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 also being done and have been for many years, well at least since I worked in Trade NZ back in the early 2000s.
In fact there has been commentary over the years about the 'clean, green' and 'NZ Pure' signage and wordage when we are fighting nitrates in our rivers and cattle eating and birthing on wall to wall mud.
There is also the software and digital services industries which should be further encouraged as they are growing sectors with significant offshore demand.
I think you will find that Trade NZ has been working with entrepreneurs on this at least since the early 2000s and even then we were getting bangs for bucks with selling specialist accounting software for law firms into the UK and baggage handling systems into multiple overseas airports.
Perhaps rather than letting us think that these are all new ideas it might be better to have words such as 'continue' or 'add to the….'
You have quoted my own thoughts, missed that I have said 'further encouraged' (i.e. continuing/adding to), and then attempted to school the Greens/me regarding your inference of supposed claims of novelty?
I have supplied a party policy document as the OP requested, I imagine it is up to those that are claiming certain policy points are already done to provide the evidence that is so. There is also the possibility that the Greens intend to do the same thing via a different method/mechanism, therefore continue/add to could be not strictly or entirely correct.
In the latest newsletter from my son's primary school, the principal reported that in recent weeks, 15% of the pupils were absent due to families deciding to take their children on holidays during term time. A number of people I know with children at various schools have reported a similar trend.
Despite complaining about the economy, these people are clearly financially able to have family holidays within New Zealand and overseas. Their choice to do so skews schools' absenteeism statistics. National can't blame the Labour Government if people decide to take their children on holidays during term time…
Well back in the olden days, my father who was an accountant/company secretary and who worked over most of the long Christmas holidays on Race course and A & P grounds courses asked if he could take us on holiday that extended for one week extra in August….working for himself he let his staff take the first week off.
He had to make application that had to go to the head Office in Wellington for permission. This was for a family holiday, staying in cabins in NZ. We did this twice as it was a bit of a process. Times have changed obviously.
I have heard of families who go overseas with their children each holidays and seek to have different times and go away in term time because they are seeking cheaper fares. This is seen as a good enough reason to give permission, apparently. I can't help feeling that there is a bit of entitled thinking going on.
My experience (anecdata, sample of one school) is that permission is not given – but the family take the holiday time anyway, and it's recorded as an 'unjustified absence'.
I've certainly had to make extensive submissions (in one case to the School Board) about out-of-school-but-educational opportunities that my teen has had. Leave for sports representation is automatically granted – but other activities need special pleading….
As a teacher we find it really annoying. The kids never do the online work set, and hardly ever catch up. Just more gaps to fill further down the line.
While it remains 'penalty free' to do this – families are going to continue doing so.
Schools rarely (if ever) impose any consequences on either students or parents for pulling kids out of school for 'unjustified absences' (a.k.a. family holidays).
Many of the private schools deliberately have 3 week inter-term breaks – acknowledging that families are going to take holidays away – and make up with longer school days during term time. Of course, that won't work if every school does it – it will simply extend the high-air-fare period to 3 weeks instead of two.
There are consequences that schools could impose – but they seem reluctant to do so…..
Also partly attributable to Air NZ price gouging during school holidays. But apparently this is a law of nature, when more people want to do something, magically the price of that thing just increases. Leading physicists believe there may be a totally new and unknown force-field in the universe behind this phenomenon that no-one has yet investigated or described.
Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh have bought Shelly Bay after the collapse of the ghastly housing develpoments, brutalist style, proposed in a joint venture with the Wellington Company, Ian Cassels.
Probably a loud cheer going up all round Wellington. Rejigged water, sewage etc was required for the develpoment that had to be paid for at great cost by WCC.
Returning land to native cover, arts facilities sounds fantastic rather than an enclave for the wealthy.
Peter Jackson owns other land on the peninsula that is being restored. .
Not really suitable for houses. There are better places closer to town than Shelly Bay.
Not really all that many low-cost houses that were going to be built there. Cassel's aim was for a place in Wellington that is like Sausalito near San Francisco.
I think people living there would soon get tired of the endless procession of cars that pass through on the weekends etc. We'd get people wanting to put a stop to it, it is on the ever popular 'round the bays' route.
Revegetate, restore, keep/restore the 'down home' ice cream shop & cafe (Chocolate Frog), have some art facilities, some informal recreation facilities where families can picnic/play games etc. (pretty much what Wellingtonians have been using the place for since the Airforce moved out)
Hearty congratulations to Nga iwi O Taranaki and Minister Little and all the negotiating teams on both sides for this really-late-in-the-term settlement about Mount Taranaki.
Very cool to see yet another co-governance arrangement signed up but this time with Department of Conservation retaining the operational responsibility, and keeping it fully as a National Park.
Hopefully they’ve all learned their lessons from the dreadful outcomes to the land and forest from the Uruwera settlement.
Massive congratulations to Mr Tuuta and all his whanau.
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Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
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 The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/300957731/newsable-taxing-offshore-casinos-easier-said-than-done-says-expert
Nationals tax and spend plan is getting completely dismantled
Kieran McAnulty said that the maximum they could hope for taxing offshore gambling would be $40 million – $100 million short of the Natz magic figures.
Then there's this: it shows 60% or more of foreign buyers would be exempt from the 15% tax.
https://twitter.com/NatlClownshow/status/1697196976021135383
(not sure how to post this other than putting up the url)
About that. We kinda know that "most News" is not gonna raise that up.
Labour…and the Left are going to have to get much more vocal in push back…and Fight back.
Things like Willis and Luxon simpering about Nic's kids getting real icecream with her tax break.
FFS.
And…..
RNZ has it…how many others? Labour especially needs to push back on this and others…
It certainly looks like a redistribution from the bottom of the pile to the middle. With the gains to the to the top disguised by the fact that they dont get bigger tax cuts than the others. Instead they get the promise of increasing value of their housing portfolios as the market gets heated up. And sneakily, the house price inflation that rewards the top erodes the benefits given to the middle, unless they already own a home.
Looks like the Nats have just got a bit trickier in how exactly they redistribute wealth upwards – which is always their sacred mission.
Same as ever….good cartoon depiction of
As I said in other threads….the Rich…are but a small number. ( 1% ers?)
We must surely outnumber them? Got to get motivated ( I know we are: )….
and out vote them.
Good link PLA.
Actually this trickledown rubbish has been with us since the mid 1980s and the smiling assassin's face could easily be replaced by Ruthless Ruth's and the sense would be unchanged.
As an aside do you think the photo of Luxon on the RNZ site looks remarkably like Mussolini?
Hmm, maybe needs a balcony? However I dont see him as fascist….however some of his potential "likely lads"..IMO yep for sure jackboot wannabees.
I reckon he looks more like a startled Xmas ham.
..the squeezed
middlefew…https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F42OQspaQAAdg43?format=jpg&name=medium
How does luxon's claim about the "squeezed middle" stack up? So to sort this out those on higher incomes yet again get a ton more than those on the lowest incomes. If luxon was really concerned about squeezes surely he'd want to deal with the “crushed bottom”? But no, what he does is crush the bottom even more. Idiot.
Not a lot of National Party voters among the squeezed bottom-feeders.
Also, the minimum wage is creeping up to what used to be a high income bracket. So instead of lifting the threshold Labour decides to make even more New Zealanders "significantly dependent on the state" (to use a phrase the right introduced in the 90s) by widening WFF thresholds. On this logic it won't be long before every low income worker falls into the high tax bracket while at the same time qualifying for welfare.
I'm not really knowledgeable about tax brackets and tax bracket creep but what is the big problem with altering the brackets? Is it to do with loss of tax 'income'?
Surely it is a simple matter to work out how the current range of taxes could be altered and by how much to produce X result. it just seems that there is a reluctance to do this.
If I had anything to do with it brackets would be moved in line with CPI or inflation, whichever produced the most fair result to payers and Govt. Instead it is left and left and left then becomes a big deal with possibly big fiscal implications.
But has anyone got the good oil on why there is this reluctance?
The "crushed bottom" don't vote.
"Unemployed people were less likely to vote compared with employed people and those not in the labour force. In the 2011 General Election, 35.2 percent of unemployed people did not vote. This was almost double the percentage of those not in the labour force (17.8 percent) and employed people (19.9 percent). People with personal incomes of $30,000 or less and incomes between $30,001 and $70,000 (22.8 percent and 20.3 percent respectively) were more likely not to vote than people with incomes above $70,000 (9.5 percent)."
https://socialreport.msd.govt.nz/civil-and-political-rights/voter-turnout.html
For those on the low end…the NActs will use their special squeezer/grater. Set to fine chop.
And on TVNZ 1 Breakfast show
David Carter highlighting Nicola Willis's Billion $ Hole
Fri 1st Sep 41:55 min in.
Oops, of course I meant David Parker. Doh.
From The Conversation. It’s about the cycling situation in Australia, but very much pertains here.
https://theconversation.com/fewer-of-us-are-cycling-heres-how-we-can-reverse-the-decline-212260?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20September%201%202023%20-%202725027541&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20September%201%202023%20-%202725027541+CID_1f049aa492542c336eb923ea1196d119&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Fewer%20of%20us%20are%20cycling%20%20heres%20how%20we%20can%20reverse%20the%20decline
Hi. Well thats kinda timely…I had just been watchin a vid about city-shaping expert Henriette Vamberg.
And Copenhagen….despite which I had thought, had bicycled since they were invented : )….apparently didnt ! Cars were the new..and cycling was kinda discriminated against.."actively".
Bit like the Netherlands (another I thought Cycled since Adam had a bike! )….until
Copenhagen….Bicycle Friendly : )
Henriette Vamberg has some great Ideas. If only…..
Its all possible. Lets do it !
Could..and should be NZ…
In Ho Chi Mehn City most people biked but as the economy improved the city became full of motorbikes. Now the further growth has seen a shift towards cars. There is no way that the city can cope with as many cars as bikes were.
Going backwards?
Well..Indeed. Like China…the "upwardly mobile" ..become immobile in gridlock traffic jams. Air pollution toxic ..
However..with the jams…the toxic smog an all. Change is again…
In case anyone hasn't noticed, urban cycleways in a country as addicted to cars as this, is almost always a massive public and bureaucratic war.
The biggest and most successful cycleways New Zealand has done in the last three years are all off-suburbia:
Even a cycling friendly city like Palmerston North has had fights about them.
Anyone who blithely suggests we just need more cycleways, had better come with thousands of supporters, millions in cash, and courage of steel. These are some of the hardest civic fights I've seen.
I would like to hear of an economic plan to rebuild our export sector, from any party.
With farmers padlocking their wallets after the milk price collapse, our rural economy its towns and its people are going to suffer hard.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/opinion/300945203/dairy-farmers-slam-their-wallets-shut-after-fonterra-announced-the-farmgate-milk-price-drop
Apparently Fonterra are going to find $1b of savings, but only implement it over multiple years.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/fonterra-aims-for-1b-cost-savings-as-inflation-dairy-price-dive-bite-into-long-term-targets/CIAJRGYOANDZ5PY6OMYKX7UQ4A/#:~:text=Dairy%20juggernaut%20Fonterra%20is%20developing,short%20and%20long%20term%20targets.
As a reminder, two years ago in 2021, 108 executives at Fonterra were paid more than $500,000 in 2021, and 16 received more than $1 million. Its directors received at least $175,000 each.
From the Greens' full Agriculture and Rural Affairs policy:
https://www.greens.org.nz/agriculture_and_rural_affairs_policy
Production for chasing commodity price hasn't been good for rural communities,
There is also the software and digital services industries which should be further encouraged as they are growing sectors with significant offshore demand.
Great as it goes.
Everything except 5.6 and 5.10 is being done already.
I'm not sure what 5.11 actually means.
As soon as I see a National or Labour trade policy it would be worth doing a comparison with the three.
5.11 will have to be developed further in discussion I'd imagine but essentially would involve incentivising or funding more smaller market garden style local production, similar to OMG https://www.uptown.co.nz/omg
Greens Trade policy is here: https://www.greens.org.nz/trade_and_foreign_investment_policy
5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 also being done and have been for many years, well at least since I worked in Trade NZ back in the early 2000s.
In fact there has been commentary over the years about the 'clean, green' and 'NZ Pure' signage and wordage when we are fighting nitrates in our rivers and cattle eating and birthing on wall to wall mud.
I think you will find that Trade NZ has been working with entrepreneurs on this at least since the early 2000s and even then we were getting bangs for bucks with selling specialist accounting software for law firms into the UK and baggage handling systems into multiple overseas airports.
Perhaps rather than letting us think that these are all new ideas it might be better to have words such as 'continue' or 'add to the….'
You have quoted my own thoughts, missed that I have said 'further encouraged' (i.e. continuing/adding to), and then attempted to school the Greens/me regarding your inference of supposed claims of novelty?
I have supplied a party policy document as the OP requested, I imagine it is up to those that are claiming certain policy points are already done to provide the evidence that is so. There is also the possibility that the Greens intend to do the same thing via a different method/mechanism, therefore continue/add to could be not strictly or entirely correct.
In the latest newsletter from my son's primary school, the principal reported that in recent weeks, 15% of the pupils were absent due to families deciding to take their children on holidays during term time. A number of people I know with children at various schools have reported a similar trend.
Despite complaining about the economy, these people are clearly financially able to have family holidays within New Zealand and overseas. Their choice to do so skews schools' absenteeism statistics. National can't blame the Labour Government if people decide to take their children on holidays during term time…
Crikey lucky them. I haven't managed to get out of this joint since 2017.
Aitutaki is nice at this time of the year. 😉
Well back in the olden days, my father who was an accountant/company secretary and who worked over most of the long Christmas holidays on Race course and A & P grounds courses asked if he could take us on holiday that extended for one week extra in August….working for himself he let his staff take the first week off.
He had to make application that had to go to the head Office in Wellington for permission. This was for a family holiday, staying in cabins in NZ. We did this twice as it was a bit of a process. Times have changed obviously.
I have heard of families who go overseas with their children each holidays and seek to have different times and go away in term time because they are seeking cheaper fares. This is seen as a good enough reason to give permission, apparently. I can't help feeling that there is a bit of entitled thinking going on.
My experience (anecdata, sample of one school) is that permission is not given – but the family take the holiday time anyway, and it's recorded as an 'unjustified absence'.
I've certainly had to make extensive submissions (in one case to the School Board) about out-of-school-but-educational opportunities that my teen has had. Leave for sports representation is automatically granted – but other activities need special pleading….
As a teacher we find it really annoying. The kids never do the online work set, and hardly ever catch up. Just more gaps to fill further down the line.
While it remains 'penalty free' to do this – families are going to continue doing so.
Schools rarely (if ever) impose any consequences on either students or parents for pulling kids out of school for 'unjustified absences' (a.k.a. family holidays).
Many of the private schools deliberately have 3 week inter-term breaks – acknowledging that families are going to take holidays away – and make up with longer school days during term time. Of course, that won't work if every school does it – it will simply extend the high-air-fare period to 3 weeks instead of two.
There are consequences that schools could impose – but they seem reluctant to do so…..
Also partly attributable to Air NZ price gouging during school holidays. But apparently this is a law of nature, when more people want to do something, magically the price of that thing just increases. Leading physicists believe there may be a totally new and unknown force-field in the universe behind this phenomenon that no-one has yet investigated or described.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/shelly-bay-development-cancelled/LY5EZTC4JZGWTA354JLPXNSDNA/
Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh have bought Shelly Bay after the collapse of the ghastly housing develpoments, brutalist style, proposed in a joint venture with the Wellington Company, Ian Cassels.
Probably a loud cheer going up all round Wellington. Rejigged water, sewage etc was required for the develpoment that had to be paid for at great cost by WCC.
Returning land to native cover, arts facilities sounds fantastic rather than an enclave for the wealthy.
Peter Jackson owns other land on the peninsula that is being restored. .
Is money bags Pete gonna build 300 plus houses somewhere else, or just a monument to himself?
Revegate it hopefully.
Not really suitable for houses. There are better places closer to town than Shelly Bay.
Not really all that many low-cost houses that were going to be built there. Cassel's aim was for a place in Wellington that is like Sausalito near San Francisco.
I think people living there would soon get tired of the endless procession of cars that pass through on the weekends etc. We'd get people wanting to put a stop to it, it is on the ever popular 'round the bays' route.
Revegetate, restore, keep/restore the 'down home' ice cream shop & cafe (Chocolate Frog), have some art facilities, some informal recreation facilities where families can picnic/play games etc. (pretty much what Wellingtonians have been using the place for since the Airforce moved out)
Hearty congratulations to Nga iwi O Taranaki and Minister Little and all the negotiating teams on both sides for this really-late-in-the-term settlement about Mount Taranaki.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/132855713/historymaking-moment-sees-taranaki-maunga-claim-finally-settled
Very cool to see yet another co-governance arrangement signed up but this time with Department of Conservation retaining the operational responsibility, and keeping it fully as a National Park.
Hopefully they’ve all learned their lessons from the dreadful outcomes to the land and forest from the Uruwera settlement.
Massive congratulations to Mr Tuuta and all his whanau.