Mermaids – the significantly influential transgender childrens' charity in the UK is being challenged on demonstrably inadequate safeguarding processes, and its direction towards medical interventions, even as they testify in court that they don't offer medical advice.
(To indicate the reach, Susie Green (CEO) was part of the group writing the recently released WPATH Standards of Care, which removed minimum ages for medical interventions.)
This scrutiny was in part increased bytheir decision to take the Charity Commission to court for granting charity status to the UK's LGB Alliance.
Many have raised concerns about Mermaids over the years, and been ignored by those who do not see problems by the simple expedient method of refusing to look.
It is hard to give those who held positions of influence and responsibility any leeway for their intentional blindness. We have the same visual impairment here in NZ.
If you want a peep at the succession of revelations regarding Mermaids, they are easily found, and will no doubt be added to. Go look if the wellbeing of children is a matter of interest to you.
For now, Dennis Kavanaugh releases some of his disdain:
…Just as children have been used as validation objects for those who would never have surgery. Just as children have been used as a tactical wedge in the creation of this seasons must-have, the mythical and fashionable “trans kid”. Gender is the engine and children have been flung into its gears with abandon for years now.
…
That is not in my nature and I ask people to reflect on the magnitude of what we are witnessing here. Society has been under a wicked spell for years. Mediocre little bureaucrats who organise genders and sexuality into 100 boring flags and identities pursued a campaign to allocate children to such categories and were prepared to countenance surgical correction if the child didn’t fit. These were in the main gay children, autistic children, children leaving or in care. Above all they were children.
I can find no excuse or accommodation with those who cheered this on. This is the single most obvious medical scandal in human history. An open air live experiment where the gender brog were contemporaneously told in detail exactly what was wrong. These serious and heartfelt objections were met with the tactics of the Stasi or Gestapo. By cancellations. By character assassinations. Dr. David Bell. Sonia Appleby. Transgender trend. The LGB Alliance. All castigated, marginalised, forced to court by a vicious monster which believed itself to be beyond and above question or scrutiny.
"children have been used as validation objects for those who would never have surgery"
"society has been under a wicked spell for years"
"I find no excuse or accommodation with those who cheered this on". Labour MPs at the select committees (and Jan Tineti) who on current polling look set to loose their seats (unfortunately this will not be the case for Deborah Russell)
If you want good deep analysis of what New Zealand does really well and what we value, check out this literature review from Feb this year from MBIE's research unit.
Covers long trends, strengths in depth, institutional kinds of strength.
At 61 pages it's one of the most hopeful and considered pieces on New Zealand's potential outside of the Productivity Commission papers.
Happy weekend reading to all the nerds.
Tears of rage and demands to kill any Western leaders supporting Ukraine.
As well as advocating capital punishment for Russian troops who retreat or surrender.
How Russian state media responds to Russian military setbacks in Ukraine.
……Prominent experts routinely featured on Kremlin-controlled state television roundly reject the mere idea of negotiations, and none of them dare suggest Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine in order to end the war. Instead, they’re doubling down—and proposing to kill leading Westerners in charge of helping Ukraine defend itself from the Russian invasion…..
….Satanovsky, who serves as the president of Russia’s Institute of the Middle East after heading the Russian Jewish Congress, replied: “Russia is what it is, in terms of a nation. We’ll continue to be the way we are. Those who are with us will be fine and the rest we will kill…
…..
Andrey Sidorov, deputy dean of world politics at Moscow State University, wholeheartedly agreed, noting that in light of Russia’s recent annexations, the war is now happening on what they consider to be a territory of the Russian Federation. Sidorov stressed: “Now these are our defeats, we’re fighting on our land. Why should we show any mercy to those who are directing this war?”
Humiliating failures on the battlefield are indeed at the core of Russia’s desperate attempts to redirect rage at NATO for helping Ukraine fight the invasion.
Appearing on the state TV program 60 Minutes on Tuesday, war correspondent Alexandr Sladkov nonchalantly admitted that Ukrainians have been able to retake 17 settlements—and counting. Sladkov also told a stunned host Olga Skabeeva that Russian forces are at least two months away from even attempting to advance, due to lack of manpower and the time it will take to train newly-mobilized reinforcements. train.
Devastated by the failing conquest in Ukraine, state TV host Vladimir Solovyov admitted he was in a foul mood and advocated the restoration of the death penalty, in order to execute those who dare to retreat, surrender or desert….
…..Appearing on the same show, TV host Boris Korchevnikov broke down in tears, accusing those who don’t want to die in Russia’s war of being “a zero, decay and garbage.” While the despondent propagandist wept live on-air, urging others to join the battle, he didn’t express any desire to do so himself.
Tears of rage and demands to kill any Western leaders supporting Ukraine.
As well as advocating capital punishment for Russian troops who retreat or surrender.
I'm inclined to agree. Russia would be better off “playing the nuclear card” than employing those policies. However Russia is a different country, with a different history, traditions and geography from ours. I believe you are being somewhat ethnocentric in judging her by our traditions.
WMDs Weapons of Mass Destruction are misnamed. They are weapons of mass murder, they are tools of genocide. No need to bother with cattle cars and concentration camps. Nuclear weapons can kill millions in less time with less effort.
The use of nuclear weapons is a war crime and an act of genocide. The Tokyo war crimes tribunal judges fell into disunity and acrimony over the refusal of the US prosecutors to bring charges against the US authorities for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Mikesh claims Russia would be better off to use nuclear weapons.
Mikesh personifying Russia as 'her', argues that a difference in 'traditions', is the reason for Russia's death threats against Western leaders, and nuclear weapons threats against Ukraine.
"…Russia would be better off “playing the nuclear card” than employing those policies. However Russia is a different country, with a different history, traditions and geography from ours. I believe you are being somewhat ethnocentric in judging her by our traditions." Mikesh
Assassination and nuclear threats are the result of different Russian traditions?
Give it a rest Mikesh.
Mikesh you might as well argue that the holocaust was a result of different German traditions.
Their leaders may be genocidal megalomaniacs but I don't think that the German people or the Russian people are that different to us, in that they consider genocide to be traditional to their history.
I reject Mikesh's accusation that I am being ethnocentric. I am being human centric. I judge Russia not be western values, but by human values.
“But the chief problem for Jacinda Ardern and her Government is that they’ve seemingly forgotten how to do politics.”
I agree with that. Whether its tiredness after a bruising few years, or whether they have become a little too complacent I don’t know. A mix of both?
But they do seem to have lost their way a bit and, imo, they are too gun-shy. Its time they seriously reconsidered the CGT – set up a nation-wide debating chamber if necessary to counter the politically motivated opposition. And they need to start showing a much greater commitment to Climate Change. These are two of the serious problems facing the country but there are plenty more.
Nice words and “kindness” are not – on their own – cutting it any more. More action on the front line is needed.
Nice words and “kindness” are not – on their own – cutting it any more.
I agree, and add nice speeches to this, whether here or overseas; they’re simply fodder for Google and YouTube and will be forgotten soon otherwise. Nobody remembers a nice person saying nice things, but they do remember nice acts, i.e., a nice gesture combined with nice words, as long as it is genuine. Unfortunately, though, many people have become hardened, cynical, and closed up; even genuinely good acts are perceived with distrust, and shoulder shrugs at best and with outright hostility and venom at worst.
… many people have become hardened, cynical, and closed up; even genuinely good acts are perceived with distrust, and shoulder shrugs at best and with outright hostility and venom at worst.
And the hostility and venom is winning the day. To be honest, I don't know how the government counters this phenomenon. Its typical right-wing style messaging made popular by Cameron Slater and co. and it works. When you have an MSM who seem to turn the other way and let them get away with it without proper appraisal then what can the government do about it?
Unfortunately for this Labour govt they are fighting on two fronts. On one front they are consumed in running the country through very volatile times, on the other front they are constantly having to defend themselves from aggressive opposition attacks under the guise of "being held to account" and a media that revels in point scoring gotcha politics.
Jacinda is going to have to start showing her warrior side more and wack off a few heads with her sword in the lead up to next years election. Doing that in her trade mark kindly style is the challenge.
Contrary to popular belief, the Government cannot and does not make rain nor sunshine. This is a mini-Zeitgeist, IMO, a state of (hive) mind of humankind, at least in the Western nations that are now experiencing stronger economic (and social!) headwinds – mirroring the changes in climate & weather patterns that show us that CC is as real as day & night and already happening right now. On a smaller and more local scale, even smug homeowners in NZ feeling ‘the pressure’ with falling house prices, increasing interest rates, and increased cost of living. I can go on, but you’ll get my drift – not the message that people want to hear and thus not the message MSM will tell.
Agree Anne. I expect exhaustion plays a role in this. I do have some sympathy for them as they have had to face so much.
But in my opinion another three years of this govt and things will only get worse. Society will be even more divided. And they are only tinkering re making significant change to address issues like inequality.
I am thinking more and more about voting TOP. Their tax policy makes sense to me.
Things to like the cost of living payment, a knee jerk one off reaction, look clumsy and vote grabbing and of course they ended up with egg on their face when money got paid out to NZders overseas.
The first leaders debate on tv at before the last US Presidential election. Their first statements, the line on what they were all about. At the beginning on the achievements of his term? Trump saw his prime achievement as the number of judges he'd appointed.
From the outset Biden talked about unifying the country.
How did that work out? Well, Trump got booted out, cried like a baby he and his supporters went crazy and said the resultant turmoil was down to Biden & Co creating division.
Here? Under National housing problems flourished, there was a veritable crisis they wouldn't call a crisis, there was instead a "Comprehensive Housing Plan and people were put up in motels. Labour got in, suddenly there was housing crisis and the only way it will be sorted is to have a National government.
"Trump saw his prime achievement as the number of judges he'd appointed."
Given the changes those supreme court justices have already made to the legal fabric of the US, and the fact that there will be a right-leaning supreme court for decades (based on the age of the current appointees) – he was not wrong.
Appointing the socially conservative justices to the supreme court was one of the most powerful long term actions he could make.
Laws can be changed. Judges remain until they die.
I am not sure the US is anymore United under Biden, but I am open to others views on this.
Re Luxon, do people really imagine he would incite people to storm parliament a la 06/01, He had his chance in February and yet he would not even meet with parliament protestors.
I suspect many people who are on this site and do not visit other sites eg The Daily Blog have no idea how angry people (including those on the left) are about a raft of Govt policies including Three Waters, Co-Governance, Mandates, welfare policies (lack of them) housing and many more.
Agreed – Luxon is wrong, cynical, backward-looking, acharismatic and otherwise worse than useless. But he is not a corrupt demagogue that would cheerfully incite an insurrection to retain power – at least thus far.
Problem with voting tax policy of TOP is your basically voting for their major coalition partners actual tax policy (if your vote counts). I doubt TOP would refuse coalition based even on a minimum progressive change in income tax. IMO National will wangle an increase in GST to go along with their top tax rate giveaways, and blame TOP for negotiating "fiscal neutral" and then the media will basically cover over this regressive tax policy even though its adding insult to injury in policy terms. Its a question for TOP which phrase holds more weight, fiscally neutral or progressive.
Nic TOP have previously said they would sit on the cross benchers. they may of course havechanged their position. That is one of the things I will be waiting to hear about. But I do take your point that a vote for TOP could be a vote for either National or Labours tax policy
Your comments about National and GST are purely speculative. Of course its fine to speculate, but not the strongest arguement.
(1) Cost of living + (2) Covid shine suddenly fading (putting spotlight back on Govt’s core weaknesses/failures) + (3) Woke excesses/extremism [esp the attacks (largely by stealth until forced into the open) on the fundamentals of liberal democracy] + (4) Law/order.
I think this is an example of forgetting how to do politics. Right now the govt has introduced an effective CGT with the 10 year bright-line test. In fact they have done it so stealthily that a large number of CGT advocates didn't notice and keep calling for a CGT to be implemented.
You will note that TOPs recent land tax policy position talks about replacing the bright-line test. Key described the bright-line test as being a CGT (though his govt kept it at 2 years). Robertson has alluded to this being a CGT in effect. Insiders know that this is another name for the same thing.
I'm fine with the CGT policy BTW, however I believe the interest deduction changes were far more significant in discouraging property speculation as a savings vehicle behavior. I just don't think there is a significant difference with the bright-line test and don't see the name of the policy as an important political battle to be had.
Why don't Labour shoot out the campaigns of the Nats and Act by initiating their own tax rate levels review?
If they did this and either left the high rates untouched or increased them it leaves the Nacts only able to advance an argument for the moving, lowering, the tax rates on the higher salary levels. Somehow I think if the lower salary levels are looked after people are able to resist any policy changes giving windfall gains such as an extra $18,000 to those on the same salary levels as Luxon
Changing tax brackets doesn't take into account the fact that in an inflationary situation monies paid to the government by way of taxation are worth less, in real terms, than before. If the rate of inflation is zero a progressive tax system works exactly as it is meant to work, so there would be no need to alter thresholds.
Note to moderator: I have now amended the username on my browser and re-submitted the comment. I apologize for the mistake. Would you please delete my previous comment(s).
Because they cannot see that, they the government are part of the cause and contributing to the cost of Living crisis. Everyone earning over $14,000 are paying more % in tax and as a consequence having less to cover the essentials. And when Labour previously noticed the consequences, our then Finance Minister went all nasty and cancelled his adjustments to the tax brackets.
Wasn't that the "block of cheese" taunt by National that caused him to do that? In effect they were arguing that bacause inflation had been small then doing the corresponding small increments for lower tax brackets were too small to be bothered with.
In the end National gave massive tax cuts to the affluent and a even smaller pittance to anyone whose income was mostly in lower tax brackets – ans who were more affected by inflation.
The touted increases in productivity from tax cuts for the affluent never happened because it was either spent in taking money offshore for holidays or speculating in propery prices.
So what about the taunt. The Clarke government were so miserable that they then allowed their emotions to takeaway $$ from needy deserving families. Find any excuse to distract away from the issue. Its was Nationals fault what a f#$%en pathetic excuse, Labour DON'T take ownership of THEIR actions – and it is still having an effect.
And I din't even comment on the GST effect that has meant more tax take and increasing what families are STILL suffer. Labour IS accountable in part for this Cost of Living crisis, and our Min of Finance tells us how good the govt books are,pity he cannot or does not want to see who is paying the cost for his moment on the pedistool !!!
According to Maslow people are not much motivated by money once they reach a certain level of income, so tax cuts would not probably not motivate the wealthy to greater efforts. Greater productivity is more likely to come from more investment and/or lower interest rates.
I cant understand why at a time of severe destitution and crippling cost of living pressures Robertson wants to concentrate on a surplus.
" "Our priority … is investing in public services and investing in infrastructure and supporting New Zealanders by getting ourselves back to surplus "
Well that has been their approach but its clearly not enough and it seems the polls are reflecting this.
He is right by attacking Aloha Air Luxon's top tax rate cut which seems the Nasty Natz answer to everything wrong in the economy. Give the struggling rich more of their money back.
We live in a country that is susceptible to shocks.
Earthquakes, storms, floods, imported terrorism, imported inflation, imported disease, external trade risks, aging population, warfare, trade disruptions and any number of other issues.
Each of these risks could cause widespread disruption and massive increases in destitution if not handled. Things like tent cities in ChCh fro decades after an earthquake, insane Aussie racists on vacation shoots, massively high plague jobless or death rates, or Nationals timid GFC response throwing people out of work and a 6 year recession etc.
These are handled by a mixture of stored funds like EQC or the Cullen Fund, or by the government having the capacity to borrow because they have kept dropping debt levels after previous unpredictable expenses.
So which of these many prudent measures to prevent really massive destitution from disasters are you going to cut now? So that you can provide to provide support for a much much smaller population of people who are destitute now.
Bear in mind the significant resources are already made towards limiting destitution already. Things that have immediate or indirect reductions of potential destitution like superannuation, schooling, health or housing support payments, flooding defences, roading and transport (as that reduces delivery markups on goods in remote areas) etc etc. If you ever total these up you will find that they account for the vast majority of the government budget.
I look forward reading your unplanned and incoherent magic money response that I anticipate getting. I love tearing idiotic ideas apart.
Before you go tearing, can you explain why getting a govt surplus is a legitimate policy goal. Your argument should address the facts that,
1) the sum of balances of payments internationally is zero.
2) a negative balance of payments reduces NZs GDP.
3) a govt surplus reduces NZs GDP, (a govt deficit increases it).
4) in the absence of a balance of payments surpluses or a govt deficit increases in GDP ride entirely on non-govt debt increases or decreasing non-govt savings.
My actual claim for a valid policy goal is not some fiscal balance. Instead the govt should basically target full employment with its levels of spending and this means replacing any income which goes overseas via the balance of payments deficit, typically.
Criticism of Labour exactly measures NZers immature propensity to criticise any of our sports teams if they are not constantly winning or at the top of the world ranking. FFs look at the numbers, they don't lie. The RBNZs numbers yesterday have us at the top of the world rankings in employment, growth, debt ratio, ad infinitum. No other country is doing anywhere as well at the moment. The so-called weakness in the dollar is caused by the FAILURE of other countries having to raise their interest rates a lot higher than ours, thus leading to a movement of money to those currencys.
Why don't Labour do this? or that ?, because frankly the constant whingers could not do it themselves and no doubt can do bugger all except fucking complain.
If you think Nats could do better, what do you think the minimum wage would be now ? Not within a bulls roar of what it is that’s for sure, how many of your friends dead from Covid, how many more people living in cars than in 2016, now housing prices are falling because we now have almost too many houses.
Criticism of Labour exactly measures NZers immature propensity to criticise any of our sports teams if they are not constantly winning or at the top of the world ranking.
GDP is the banker's scorecard – workers look at what remains after the bills are paid, that is if they can be paid. It's not hard to tell if one is going forwards or backwards – and no amount of neoliberal palaver will make a shortfall right.
If Government debt is high – tax cuts are required to liberate the entrepreneurial class to grow the economy, increase tax receipts and reduce Government debt. And this should be combined with Government spending cuts as an additional tool.
If Government debt is low, too much tax is being collected and tax cuts are required to return the money to the hardworking populace. And this should be combined with Government spending cuts as an additional tool.
The question that comes to mind – is there any possible set of economic conditions when this recipe is not the correct one? And if the answer is "no", how can it be anything other than an article of faith based on the conviction that the state must be shrunk?
In any case, in trying to appease these sophists, Labour is going down the dead end of the Third Way. They need to act. Cut GST to 12.5% and flag future similar decreases. Make the first $10k earned tax free and flag future raising of that threshold. Announce this next year when with luck, overseas-sourced inflation is retreating.
I think adjusting the thresholds is the correct thing to do, as is a tax free threshold. But given we are still running a pretty hefty deficit despite our largest ever tax take adjustment should be made at the top brackets to make these adjustments tax neutral or close to. The tax burden is now sitting far heavier on the lower paid than it should.
I agree with this Cricklewood. Surely tax rate adjustments can be made neutral if an increased take from those who are best able to afford it is not palatable.
Fiscally neutral means somebody pays more/earns less compensating for the other change in policy. If the other change is unpalatable your accepting a non-fiscally neutral policy change or also making other cuts or (as National did) raising GST.
A bit more tax for higher earners and lower rates for lower earners with the aim of ensuring that no more than is currently taken is taken but the mix changes.
I don't find it unpalatable that those who can pay more do pay more. They have more disposable income than those on lower incomes and have the means to make the extra work for them by investing if they so choose. This choice does not exist for income strapped people on lower incomes.
I am not envisaging anything like changes to GST etc, – as this impacts on those on lower incomes more harshly than on those on higher incomes.
I agree a more progressive change in PAYE would be an easily justified policy.
Note however the public response to a minor change to GST, and subsequent backdown. Unfortunately thats how politics works.
Only thing is the fiscally neutral part is completely irrelevant. Govt makes plenty of non fiscally neutral changes as needed anyway and it typically makes larger errors in its forecast (the budget) than entire spending programs.
There are plenty of reasonable policies which should be implemented without undue reverence to a budget estimation process, or negotiated politically in exchange for some tax policy (this process usually sees these projects canned).
criclewood, the TOP policy makes the most sense to me. tax land. it would be very difficult for people to dodge it. the only wat around it would be to sell it or use it more productively
I'm not sure on that proposal as yet, I've got a feeling it will come with a bunch of unintended consequences…
Definitely wont really do anything to discourage land bankers as it's not high enough to really effect them… personally I quite like the idea of a progressive tax or duty based on the number of properties someone or an entity owns.
If the Gummint dropped GST to 12.5 the same bloody grizzlers would complain that it had not been dropped enough!. Grow up, where do you think the money comes from for the hospitals and schools, all the social payments, and everything thing else that is demanded ?. So many people are financially illiterate it is staggering.
Its entirely possible for the govt to remove GST entirely with no other tax changes. The major effect of this would be a recorded increase in NZ GDP. We know this causes no issues with the NZ govt running short of money because all (virtually all) payments to/from the govt occur inside the RBNZ payments system to some domestic bank. In fact the resulting account balances never even leave the RBNZ banks computer system. The implication is that all the impacts of the GST policy are about what happens to the NZ economy as a result.
All the further impacts are forecast based. These include changes to nominal spending due to higher NZ income, changes to income tax receipts due to changes in nominal spending, changes in nominal saving and changes to inflation. But unless inflation fully compensates for the income increase, or the GST change is completely saved then NZs real GDP will increase as a result. Considering its a progressive tax change this would also improve income inequality.
Real economics has very little to do with this notion of financial literacy.
Is it time that some restrictions were imposed on departing Ministers?
I am sure that Kris Faafoi is not the only Minister to get into lobbying for pay, but if there ever is a time to require a delay surely it is when it is a Minister from the current Government . .
I have made some comments on the earlier thread and read the Kiwiblog but I am struggling to understand why this is so bad and what difference the amount of time makes…….
If lobbying is bad, then it is bad whether it occurs 3 hours, 3 days, 3 months or 3 years later.
Lobbyists have been with us since time immemorial. The key point about any lobbying is that there is sunshine about it. Faafoi has certainly publicised this.
But the time? Is it to do with insider knowledge? Huge hedging about using knowledge gained – as many MPs who have wanted to write autobiographies have found out to their cost. The reach from Govt to check & sometimes remove info gained in positions of power and if this should be shared is wide.
I would welcome some comment about WHY it is wrong to be a lobbyist rather than reiterating the ‘shock, horror, they shouldn’t be allowed’ point of view.
I think the basic answer is one of perception. Basically it's pretty easy to start throwing allegations of undue influence and worse around especially if someone steps straight from a ministerial into a lobbying role. Some of that mud sticks and does parliament itself a disservice.
Simply put the right are crying foul about Faafoi but the left would be doing the same if say Joyce had done the same halfway through his last term.
Having a gap of 12 months as other countries enforce helps in removing the perception of undue influence.
It's not being a lobbyist, in itself, which is ethically dubious (that's another debate)
Someone who has just resigned as a cabinet minister from the government still in power, has unprecedented knowledge of non-public material, due to his previous role.
He knows what was discussed around the cabinet table, what the government priorities are, where the potential weak points are to pry open on behalf of his clients.
Any ex MP has *some* degree of knowledge (just knowing who are the power brokers in the various ministries is highly valuable – and it's not always based on the organizational structure). But the knowledge that a just-retired cabinet minister has, of the government still in power, is vastly greater.
Many industries have mandatory stand-down periods, and or restraint-of-trade clauses – for just this reason.
And, many other countries impose this restriction on their ex-MPs for a varying period. No one says 'forever'. But lots of people say, 'not too quickly'
One charge against Labour seems to be sticking. The meme about MIQ and Lock Downs has become "Authoritarian Bureaucrats", (who lack experience) and…
National has the high ground in not being "Tainted by covid" and selling an old chestnut of "More of your own money", ( they are wasting it).
Labour needs to start listing what is at risk, and countering any issues raised.
Labour needs to sell their vision using "influencers" the same way National has had NZers of prominence endorse their beliefs.
The pendulum has swung back, and there will be a tough three years ahead who ever wins, because a large group are going to be unhappy with either result.
Plus mental wellbeing has been impacted by the last two years of anxiety, and our fight or flight mechanism has been activated.
Many are trying to cope with cortisol grief and anger at mandates, mistaken beliefs, lack of socialisation, and disappointment in "the middle way."
So Jacinda Ardern has gone from hero to the butt of anger for many.
The constant “they are wasteful spenders” needs to be countered, by spending to support the disabled solo and young families even more.
Promising a meaningful tax review with ideas from consulted public think tanks( not a dry academic with no vision).
They have twelve months to sell a vision. It needs to be clearly expressed through a few real impactful strategic moves imo.
I am sure there will be similar for MPs in in the NZ parliament.
There are rules on how long the lobbying rules apply after leaving the UK parliament
Former Members
20.Former Members must abide by the restrictions of the lobbying rules for six months after their departure from the House in respect of any approach they make to Ministers, other Members or public officials. Former Members may not use their privileged parliamentary pass for the purposes of lobbying on the parliamentary estate.
Of course setting up a lobbying firm without actually doing any lobbying may not breach these rules. The rules are quite specific about what constitutes lobbying.
With this long background 'shock, horror' at the fact of setting up a lobbying firm or of lobbying itself is perhaps a little naive?
We also need to examine appointments to Boards and the appointments of former politicians as Directors or Chairs to Boards that can reach into our everyday life. I think this is a greater threat.
Lobbying as a concept is bound to become more regulated with advice of lobbyists contacts with Govt Ministers ……not so the reach of former politicians with their political theories onto the boards of user groups.
"We also need to examine appointments to Boards and the appointments of former politicians as Directors or Chairs to Boards that can reach into our everyday life. I think this is a greater threat. "
While I'm not opposed to reviewing directorships or board memberships for ex-politicians – I question whether it really is a greater threat.
Both of those are known appointments. For example: we all knew that John Key was appointed to the board of Air New Zealand, and Katherine Rich was the CEO of the Food & Grocery Council. It makes it 'easier' to identify the need to prepare a counter-weight argument.
It's much harder with a lobbyist – when you have no idea who their clients are; so people with opposing views have no idea that they need to do their own political engagement.
Government is now so complex as the World is a lot more complex than only a generation or so ago, and any entity trying to get change or their voice heard really does need help from someone who knows how it works. The tricky bit is if the "voice "is for the greater good i.e others or personal gain. It is the latter that there must be constrictions on and for us to be wary of.
" The Reserve Bank is digging deeper into taxpayers pockets to increase the profits of investors and commercial bank shareholders with today’s lifting of the Official Cash Rate
Is there a lot of noise or is there genuine concern?
It looks as though the local polling is lower than ever, yet apparently councils are telling us that their constituents are "up in arms" at the prospect of the theft of their precious water resources.
Seems, most people don't seem to care who runs their districts and are only concerned about their annual rates and water bills.
I venture that a lot of people are not fully aware yet – the "conversation" about 3 Waters/co-governance has not been fully instigated by the government yet – I wonder why???
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And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
The Forum has raised concerns regarding the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill and the Regulatory Standards Bill, which, if enacted, will radically undermine existing human rights protections, Indigenous rights, and constitutional safeguards ...
The passage of time hasn’t been kind to Ngāi Tahu.When its High Court hearing over wai māori (freshwater) commenced last week, 52 months after the claim was filed, the tribe mourned the loss of two named first plaintiffs – Bishop Richard Wallace, of Makaawhio, and Theo Bunker, of Wairewa – ...
Margie Apa, Nicholas Jones, Diana Sarfati, the board of Health New Zealand … and will Lester Levy be next?The biggest names in our health service are tumbling like dominos.It’s been called a bloodbath and a crisis.What’s going on?Every day there’s a new story about shortages, patients having to wait for ...
Opinion: The coalition Government’s recent revisions to the business investor visa, officially the Active Investor Plus but commonly known as the ‘golden visa’, has put pay-for-residency back in the headlines. While many object to the commodification of citizenship implicit in this policy, questions should be asked about its potential as ...
One Christmas, to thank him for helping me hugely with my writing (on a mentor scheme), I sent Michael King a dark blue cashmere scarf. I chose it with the awful knowledge that he was battling cancer, and I somehow thought it might keep him warm and make him feel ...
Comment: Readers may recall the commentaries from academics that appeared on these pages as well as on many media outlets, alarmed and appalled by the disbanding of the Marsden panels for humanities and the social sciences.The Marsden Fund is a “blue skies” initiative established by Simon Upton in the 1990s. ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard seven hours of submissions. Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.An “insult to every one of our tīpuna” was the first advice the Justice Committee heard on the Treaty principles bill ...
The same councillors who decry excessive spending on pet projects just voted to pump millions of dollars into a greenhouse for flowers. On Thursday last week, Wellington City Council voted to consult on repairing Begonia House, the greenhouse for exotic flowers in Wellington Botanic Garden. The options for repairs range ...
It’s important to respect people’s right to free speech and peaceful assembly, but how much political deference is due when it isn’t peaceful? Commenting on Destiny Church members storming a children’s event at the Te Atatū library and community centre on Saturday, prime minister Christopher Luxon said it’s important to ...
Comment: US is capitulating to Moscow’s demands before negotiations over Ukraine even begin The post The day the West died appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Mermaids – the significantly influential transgender childrens' charity in the UK is being challenged on demonstrably inadequate safeguarding processes, and its direction towards medical interventions, even as they testify in court that they don't offer medical advice.
(To indicate the reach, Susie Green (CEO) was part of the group writing the recently released WPATH Standards of Care, which removed minimum ages for medical interventions.)
This scrutiny was in part increased bytheir decision to take the Charity Commission to court for granting charity status to the UK's LGB Alliance.
Tribunal transcripts here: https://tribunaltweets.substack.com/p/mermaids-vs-lgb-alliance-and-the
Many have raised concerns about Mermaids over the years, and been ignored by those who do not see problems by the simple expedient method of refusing to look.
It is hard to give those who held positions of influence and responsibility any leeway for their intentional blindness. We have the same visual impairment here in NZ.
If you want a peep at the succession of revelations regarding Mermaids, they are easily found, and will no doubt be added to. Go look if the wellbeing of children is a matter of interest to you.
For now, Dennis Kavanaugh releases some of his disdain:
https://dennisnoelkavanagh.substack.com/p/blood-in-the-water?r=g2cl7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Thanks Molly. The quotes say it all.
"children have been used as validation objects for those who would never have surgery"
"society has been under a wicked spell for years"
"I find no excuse or accommodation with those who cheered this on". Labour MPs at the select committees (and Jan Tineti) who on current polling look set to loose their seats (unfortunately this will not be the case for Deborah Russell)
And stunning last sentences.
"Gender will collapse in three stages. The flight of the cowards. The howls of the zealots. The prosecution of the monsters.
Welcome to stage one. The flight accounts for the silence on the battlefield today."
The NZ media are nowhere to be seen on this. They are too busy showering female pronouns on violent male offenders.
If you want good deep analysis of what New Zealand does really well and what we value, check out this literature review from Feb this year from MBIE's research unit.
New Zealand’s areas of (economic) strength (mbie.govt.nz)
Covers long trends, strengths in depth, institutional kinds of strength.
At 61 pages it's one of the most hopeful and considered pieces on New Zealand's potential outside of the Productivity Commission papers.
Happy weekend reading to all the nerds.
Thanks Ad – completely new to me and a fascinating read.
Found that very absorbing. Thanks for the link.
Kill! Kill! Kill!
Tears of rage and demands to kill any Western leaders supporting Ukraine.
As well as advocating capital punishment for Russian troops who retreat or surrender.
How Russian state media responds to Russian military setbacks in Ukraine.
Who wouldn't want to be shipped off to a winter war.
https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1577642856428216327
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footwraps
Tears of rage and demands to kill any Western leaders supporting Ukraine.
As well as advocating capital punishment for Russian troops who retreat or surrender.
I'm inclined to agree. Russia would be better off “playing the nuclear card” than employing those policies. However Russia is a different country, with a different history, traditions and geography from ours. I believe you are being somewhat ethnocentric in judging her by our traditions.
Yup, best not judge Russia's tradition of genocidal colonialism.
/
https://twitter.com/maksymeristavi/status/1574139953440751616
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1574139953440751616.html
https://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/introduction.shtml
WMDs Weapons of Mass Destruction are misnamed. They are weapons of mass murder, they are tools of genocide. No need to bother with cattle cars and concentration camps. Nuclear weapons can kill millions in less time with less effort.
The use of nuclear weapons is a war crime and an act of genocide. The Tokyo war crimes tribunal judges fell into disunity and acrimony over the refusal of the US prosecutors to bring charges against the US authorities for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Mikesh claims Russia would be better off to use nuclear weapons.
Mikesh personifying Russia as 'her', argues that a difference in 'traditions', is the reason for Russia's death threats against Western leaders, and nuclear weapons threats against Ukraine.
"…Russia would be better off “playing the nuclear card” than employing those policies. However Russia is a different country, with a different history, traditions and geography from ours. I believe you are being somewhat ethnocentric in judging her by our traditions." Mikesh
Assassination and nuclear threats are the result of different Russian traditions?
Give it a rest Mikesh.
Mikesh you might as well argue that the holocaust was a result of different German traditions.
Their leaders may be genocidal megalomaniacs but I don't think that the German people or the Russian people are that different to us, in that they consider genocide to be traditional to their history.
I reject Mikesh's accusation that I am being ethnocentric. I am being human centric. I judge Russia not be western values, but by human values.
Mikesh you might as well argue that the holocaust was a result of different German traditions.
I would not argue that because I don't think it was.
And while I don’t count myself an expert on the subject of nuclear weapons, I understand there are more limited forms of such weapons.
I don’t think there is such a thing as “humancentric”. At least not unless you have something against animals.
A good synopsis by Morgan Godfrey re – the falling poll numbers for Labour:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/130081688/morgan-godfery-labour-has-forgotten-what-made-2020-possible
I agree with that. Whether its tiredness after a bruising few years, or whether they have become a little too complacent I don’t know. A mix of both?
But they do seem to have lost their way a bit and, imo, they are too gun-shy. Its time they seriously reconsidered the CGT – set up a nation-wide debating chamber if necessary to counter the politically motivated opposition. And they need to start showing a much greater commitment to Climate Change. These are two of the serious problems facing the country but there are plenty more.
Nice words and “kindness” are not – on their own – cutting it any more. More action on the front line is needed.
I agree, and add nice speeches to this, whether here or overseas; they’re simply fodder for Google and YouTube and will be forgotten soon otherwise. Nobody remembers a nice person saying nice things, but they do remember nice acts, i.e., a nice gesture combined with nice words, as long as it is genuine. Unfortunately, though, many people have become hardened, cynical, and closed up; even genuinely good acts are perceived with distrust, and shoulder shrugs at best and with outright hostility and venom at worst.
And the hostility and venom is winning the day. To be honest, I don't know how the government counters this phenomenon. Its typical right-wing style messaging made popular by Cameron Slater and co. and it works. When you have an MSM who seem to turn the other way and let them get away with it without proper appraisal then what can the government do about it?
Unfortunately for this Labour govt they are fighting on two fronts. On one front they are consumed in running the country through very volatile times, on the other front they are constantly having to defend themselves from aggressive opposition attacks under the guise of "being held to account" and a media that revels in point scoring gotcha politics.
Jacinda is going to have to start showing her warrior side more and wack off a few heads with her sword in the lead up to next years election. Doing that in her trade mark kindly style is the challenge.
Contrary to popular belief, the Government cannot and does not make rain nor sunshine. This is a mini-Zeitgeist, IMO, a state of (hive) mind of humankind, at least in the Western nations that are now experiencing stronger economic (and social!) headwinds – mirroring the changes in climate & weather patterns that show us that CC is as real as day & night and already happening right now. On a smaller and more local scale, even smug homeowners in NZ feeling ‘the pressure’ with falling house prices, increasing interest rates, and increased cost of living. I can go on, but you’ll get my drift – not the message that people want to hear and thus not the message MSM will tell.
Spot on. Sad. Because it only makes the going one hell of a lot tougher for everyone.
Agree Anne. I expect exhaustion plays a role in this. I do have some sympathy for them as they have had to face so much.
But in my opinion another three years of this govt and things will only get worse. Society will be even more divided. And they are only tinkering re making significant change to address issues like inequality.
I am thinking more and more about voting TOP. Their tax policy makes sense to me.
Things to like the cost of living payment, a knee jerk one off reaction, look clumsy and vote grabbing and of course they ended up with egg on their face when money got paid out to NZders overseas.
Just like America's version of Luxon (Donald Trump) united that country?
Anyone who thinks that things will somehow magically get better under the Natz and Act is living in La-La-Land.
The first leaders debate on tv at before the last US Presidential election. Their first statements, the line on what they were all about. At the beginning on the achievements of his term? Trump saw his prime achievement as the number of judges he'd appointed.
From the outset Biden talked about unifying the country.
How did that work out? Well, Trump got booted out, cried like a baby he and his supporters went crazy and said the resultant turmoil was down to Biden & Co creating division.
Here? Under National housing problems flourished, there was a veritable crisis they wouldn't call a crisis, there was instead a "Comprehensive Housing Plan and people were put up in motels. Labour got in, suddenly there was housing crisis and the only way it will be sorted is to have a National government.
"Trump saw his prime achievement as the number of judges he'd appointed."
Given the changes those supreme court justices have already made to the legal fabric of the US, and the fact that there will be a right-leaning supreme court for decades (based on the age of the current appointees) – he was not wrong.
Appointing the socially conservative justices to the supreme court was one of the most powerful long term actions he could make.
Laws can be changed. Judges remain until they die.
I am not sure the US is anymore United under Biden, but I am open to others views on this.
Re Luxon, do people really imagine he would incite people to storm parliament a la 06/01, He had his chance in February and yet he would not even meet with parliament protestors.
I suspect many people who are on this site and do not visit other sites eg The Daily Blog have no idea how angry people (including those on the left) are about a raft of Govt policies including Three Waters, Co-Governance, Mandates, welfare policies (lack of them) housing and many more.
I don't considermyself living inla la land, nor do I things will become magicallybetter under Luxon.
I think comparing Luxon (who I am no great fan of) to Trump is drawing a wide bow really.
Agreed – Luxon is wrong, cynical, backward-looking, acharismatic and otherwise worse than useless. But he is not a corrupt demagogue that would cheerfully incite an insurrection to retain power – at least thus far.
Thanks Stuart, yet again I agree with you.
All the 'ills' of our society, except covid and inflation (which is global) were hatched or nurtured under the last Natz/Act government.
This government, though far from perfect and nowhere as radical as I would like, has done a damn fine job of tackling these 'ills.'
Trump was/is a bumbling incompetent who divided the USA. Frankly, I don't think Luxon is any better.
Problem with voting tax policy of TOP is your basically voting for their major coalition partners actual tax policy (if your vote counts). I doubt TOP would refuse coalition based even on a minimum progressive change in income tax. IMO National will wangle an increase in GST to go along with their top tax rate giveaways, and blame TOP for negotiating "fiscal neutral" and then the media will basically cover over this regressive tax policy even though its adding insult to injury in policy terms. Its a question for TOP which phrase holds more weight, fiscally neutral or progressive.
Nic TOP have previously said they would sit on the cross benchers. they may of course havechanged their position. That is one of the things I will be waiting to hear about. But I do take your point that a vote for TOP could be a vote for either National or Labours tax policy
Your comments about National and GST are purely speculative. Of course its fine to speculate, but not the strongest arguement.
Parties on the cross-benches have little to no influence on tax policy.
And its not only speculation. It's the element National and TOP (+Gareth Morgan) agree on "fiscal neutrality" with National having form.
.
What’s behind the Govt’s fall from grace ?
(1) Cost of living + (2) Covid shine suddenly fading (putting spotlight back on Govt’s core weaknesses/failures) + (3) Woke excesses/extremism [esp the attacks (largely by stealth until forced into the open) on the fundamentals of liberal democracy] + (4) Law/order.
Re: Forgot how to do politics + CGT
I think this is an example of forgetting how to do politics. Right now the govt has introduced an effective CGT with the 10 year bright-line test. In fact they have done it so stealthily that a large number of CGT advocates didn't notice and keep calling for a CGT to be implemented.
You will note that TOPs recent land tax policy position talks about replacing the bright-line test. Key described the bright-line test as being a CGT (though his govt kept it at 2 years). Robertson has alluded to this being a CGT in effect. Insiders know that this is another name for the same thing.
I'm fine with the CGT policy BTW, however I believe the interest deduction changes were far more significant in discouraging property speculation as a savings vehicle behavior. I just don't think there is a significant difference with the bright-line test and don't see the name of the policy as an important political battle to be had.
Thanks to all those who have commented since my contribution @ 4. A lot of food for thought among them. I do hope the Labour luminaries are reading….
Why don't Labour shoot out the campaigns of the Nats and Act by initiating their own tax rate levels review?
If they did this and either left the high rates untouched or increased them it leaves the Nacts only able to advance an argument for the moving, lowering, the tax rates on the higher salary levels. Somehow I think if the lower salary levels are looked after people are able to resist any policy changes giving windfall gains such as an extra $18,000 to those on the same salary levels as Luxon
I can't understand why labour refuses to index the tax brackets to wage inflation, ?
Changing tax brackets doesn't take into account the fact that in an inflationary situation monies paid to the government by way of taxation are worth less, in real terms, than before. If the rate of inflation is zero a progressive tax system works exactly as it is meant to work, so there would be no need to alter thresholds.
Note to moderator: I have now amended the username on my browser and re-submitted the comment. I apologize for the mistake. Would you please delete my previous comment(s).
Because they cannot see that, they the government are part of the cause and contributing to the cost of Living crisis. Everyone earning over $14,000 are paying more % in tax and as a consequence having less to cover the essentials. And when Labour previously noticed the consequences, our then Finance Minister went all nasty and cancelled his adjustments to the tax brackets.
Wasn't that the "block of cheese" taunt by National that caused him to do that? In effect they were arguing that bacause inflation had been small then doing the corresponding small increments for lower tax brackets were too small to be bothered with.
In the end National gave massive tax cuts to the affluent and a even smaller pittance to anyone whose income was mostly in lower tax brackets – ans who were more affected by inflation.
The touted increases in productivity from tax cuts for the affluent never happened because it was either spent in taking money offshore for holidays or speculating in propery prices.
So what about the taunt. The Clarke government were so miserable that they then allowed their emotions to takeaway $$ from needy deserving families. Find any excuse to distract away from the issue. Its was Nationals fault what a f#$%en pathetic excuse, Labour DON'T take ownership of THEIR actions – and it is still having an effect.
And I din't even comment on the GST effect that has meant more tax take and increasing what families are STILL suffer. Labour IS accountable in part for this Cost of Living crisis, and our Min of Finance tells us how good the govt books are,pity he cannot or does not want to see who is paying the cost for his moment on the pedistool !!!
According to Maslow people are not much motivated by money once they reach a certain level of income, so tax cuts would not probably not motivate the wealthy to greater efforts. Greater productivity is more likely to come from more investment and/or lower interest rates.
Labour wants to know more about the ‘invisible’ money and create a fairer tax system.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/06/issue-with-nz-s-tax-system-isn-t-where-bands-sit-david-parker-says-as-national-pushes-for-inflation-adjustment.html
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/shining-light-unfairness-our-tax-system
Besides, tax is not the only government income stream, as it can also generate income through investment, which it does already to some extent.
I cant understand why at a time of severe destitution and crippling cost of living pressures Robertson wants to concentrate on a surplus.
" "Our priority … is investing in public services and investing in infrastructure and supporting New Zealanders by getting ourselves back to surplus "
Well that has been their approach but its clearly not enough and it seems the polls are reflecting this.
He is right by attacking Aloha Air Luxon's top tax rate cut which seems the Nasty Natz answer to everything wrong in the economy. Give the struggling rich more of their money back.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/476167/finance-minister-grant-robertson-says-national-s-top-tax-rate-cut-does-not-add-up
[Can you please stick to one user name here or explain why there are two different names coming from the same account – Incognito]
Mod note
I now see that I’ve modded you before for the exact same thing: https://thestandard.org.nz/the-benefits-of-arderns-recent-overseas-trips/#comment-1898483.
Yes I forget about my two online names and realised only after I went back to check.
” I now see that I’ve modded you before for the exact same thing
Yes well picked up.
My apologies.
Mat Simpson
We live in a country that is susceptible to shocks.
Earthquakes, storms, floods, imported terrorism, imported inflation, imported disease, external trade risks, aging population, warfare, trade disruptions and any number of other issues.
Each of these risks could cause widespread disruption and massive increases in destitution if not handled. Things like tent cities in ChCh fro decades after an earthquake, insane Aussie racists on vacation shoots, massively high plague jobless or death rates, or Nationals timid GFC response throwing people out of work and a 6 year recession etc.
These are handled by a mixture of stored funds like EQC or the Cullen Fund, or by the government having the capacity to borrow because they have kept dropping debt levels after previous unpredictable expenses.
So which of these many prudent measures to prevent really massive destitution from disasters are you going to cut now? So that you can provide to provide support for a much much smaller population of people who are destitute now.
Bear in mind the significant resources are already made towards limiting destitution already. Things that have immediate or indirect reductions of potential destitution like superannuation, schooling, health or housing support payments, flooding defences, roading and transport (as that reduces delivery markups on goods in remote areas) etc etc. If you ever total these up you will find that they account for the vast majority of the government budget.
I look forward reading your unplanned and incoherent magic money response that I anticipate getting. I love tearing idiotic ideas apart.
Before you go tearing, can you explain why getting a govt surplus is a legitimate policy goal. Your argument should address the facts that,
1) the sum of balances of payments internationally is zero.
2) a negative balance of payments reduces NZs GDP.
3) a govt surplus reduces NZs GDP, (a govt deficit increases it).
4) in the absence of a balance of payments surpluses or a govt deficit increases in GDP ride entirely on non-govt debt increases or decreasing non-govt savings.
My actual claim for a valid policy goal is not some fiscal balance. Instead the govt should basically target full employment with its levels of spending and this means replacing any income which goes overseas via the balance of payments deficit, typically.
I look forward reading your unplanned and incoherent magic money response that I anticipate getting. I love tearing idiotic ideas apart.
Mr Lyn Prentice you are a wonderful human being sir.
Criticism of Labour exactly measures NZers immature propensity to criticise any of our sports teams if they are not constantly winning or at the top of the world ranking. FFs look at the numbers, they don't lie. The RBNZs numbers yesterday have us at the top of the world rankings in employment, growth, debt ratio, ad infinitum. No other country is doing anywhere as well at the moment. The so-called weakness in the dollar is caused by the FAILURE of other countries having to raise their interest rates a lot higher than ours, thus leading to a movement of money to those currencys.
Why don't Labour do this? or that ?, because frankly the constant whingers could not do it themselves and no doubt can do bugger all except fucking complain.
If you think Nats could do better, what do you think the minimum wage would be now ? Not within a bulls roar of what it is that’s for sure, how many of your friends dead from Covid, how many more people living in cars than in 2016, now housing prices are falling because we now have almost too many houses.
I’d like to point that in all other comparable countries interest rates are also set by independent reserve banks.
Well said Adrian.
Thanks BG
Criticism of Labour exactly measures NZers immature propensity to criticise any of our sports teams if they are not constantly winning or at the top of the world ranking.
GDP is the banker's scorecard – workers look at what remains after the bills are paid, that is if they can be paid. It's not hard to tell if one is going forwards or backwards – and no amount of neoliberal palaver will make a shortfall right.
The theology goes like this:
The question that comes to mind – is there any possible set of economic conditions when this recipe is not the correct one? And if the answer is "no", how can it be anything other than an article of faith based on the conviction that the state must be shrunk?
In any case, in trying to appease these sophists, Labour is going down the dead end of the Third Way. They need to act. Cut GST to 12.5% and flag future similar decreases. Make the first $10k earned tax free and flag future raising of that threshold. Announce this next year when with luck, overseas-sourced inflation is retreating.
I think adjusting the thresholds is the correct thing to do, as is a tax free threshold. But given we are still running a pretty hefty deficit despite our largest ever tax take adjustment should be made at the top brackets to make these adjustments tax neutral or close to. The tax burden is now sitting far heavier on the lower paid than it should.
I agree with this Cricklewood. Surely tax rate adjustments can be made neutral if an increased take from those who are best able to afford it is not palatable.
Fiscally neutral means somebody pays more/earns less compensating for the other change in policy. If the other change is unpalatable your accepting a non-fiscally neutral policy change or also making other cuts or (as National did) raising GST.
A bit more tax for higher earners and lower rates for lower earners with the aim of ensuring that no more than is currently taken is taken but the mix changes.
I don't find it unpalatable that those who can pay more do pay more. They have more disposable income than those on lower incomes and have the means to make the extra work for them by investing if they so choose. This choice does not exist for income strapped people on lower incomes.
I am not envisaging anything like changes to GST etc, – as this impacts on those on lower incomes more harshly than on those on higher incomes.
I agree a more progressive change in PAYE would be an easily justified policy.
Note however the public response to a minor change to GST, and subsequent backdown. Unfortunately thats how politics works.
Only thing is the fiscally neutral part is completely irrelevant. Govt makes plenty of non fiscally neutral changes as needed anyway and it typically makes larger errors in its forecast (the budget) than entire spending programs.
There are plenty of reasonable policies which should be implemented without undue reverence to a budget estimation process, or negotiated politically in exchange for some tax policy (this process usually sees these projects canned).
criclewood, the TOP policy makes the most sense to me. tax land. it would be very difficult for people to dodge it. the only wat around it would be to sell it or use it more productively
I'm not sure on that proposal as yet, I've got a feeling it will come with a bunch of unintended consequences…
Definitely wont really do anything to discourage land bankers as it's not high enough to really effect them… personally I quite like the idea of a progressive tax or duty based on the number of properties someone or an entity owns.
If the Gummint dropped GST to 12.5 the same bloody grizzlers would complain that it had not been dropped enough!. Grow up, where do you think the money comes from for the hospitals and schools, all the social payments, and everything thing else that is demanded ?. So many people are financially illiterate it is staggering.
Its entirely possible for the govt to remove GST entirely with no other tax changes. The major effect of this would be a recorded increase in NZ GDP. We know this causes no issues with the NZ govt running short of money because all (virtually all) payments to/from the govt occur inside the RBNZ payments system to some domestic bank. In fact the resulting account balances never even leave the RBNZ banks computer system. The implication is that all the impacts of the GST policy are about what happens to the NZ economy as a result.
All the further impacts are forecast based. These include changes to nominal spending due to higher NZ income, changes to income tax receipts due to changes in nominal spending, changes in nominal saving and changes to inflation. But unless inflation fully compensates for the income increase, or the GST change is completely saved then NZs real GDP will increase as a result. Considering its a progressive tax change this would also improve income inequality.
Real economics has very little to do with this notion of financial literacy.
Is it time that some restrictions were imposed on departing Ministers?
I am sure that Kris Faafoi is not the only Minister to get into lobbying for pay, but if there ever is a time to require a delay surely it is when it is a Minister from the current Government . .
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2022/10/from_cabinet_straight_to_lobbying.html
Did Farrar conveniently forget a few from other parties?
I have made some comments on the earlier thread and read the Kiwiblog but I am struggling to understand why this is so bad and what difference the amount of time makes…….
If lobbying is bad, then it is bad whether it occurs 3 hours, 3 days, 3 months or 3 years later.
Lobbyists have been with us since time immemorial. The key point about any lobbying is that there is sunshine about it. Faafoi has certainly publicised this.
But the time? Is it to do with insider knowledge? Huge hedging about using knowledge gained – as many MPs who have wanted to write autobiographies have found out to their cost. The reach from Govt to check & sometimes remove info gained in positions of power and if this should be shared is wide.
Earlier discussion
https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-05-10-2022/
I would welcome some comment about WHY it is wrong to be a lobbyist rather than reiterating the ‘shock, horror, they shouldn’t be allowed’ point of view.
I think the basic answer is one of perception. Basically it's pretty easy to start throwing allegations of undue influence and worse around especially if someone steps straight from a ministerial into a lobbying role. Some of that mud sticks and does parliament itself a disservice.
Simply put the right are crying foul about Faafoi but the left would be doing the same if say Joyce had done the same halfway through his last term.
Having a gap of 12 months as other countries enforce helps in removing the perception of undue influence.
It's not being a lobbyist, in itself, which is ethically dubious (that's another debate)
Someone who has just resigned as a cabinet minister from the government still in power, has unprecedented knowledge of non-public material, due to his previous role.
He knows what was discussed around the cabinet table, what the government priorities are, where the potential weak points are to pry open on behalf of his clients.
Any ex MP has *some* degree of knowledge (just knowing who are the power brokers in the various ministries is highly valuable – and it's not always based on the organizational structure). But the knowledge that a just-retired cabinet minister has, of the government still in power, is vastly greater.
Many industries have mandatory stand-down periods, and or restraint-of-trade clauses – for just this reason.
And, many other countries impose this restriction on their ex-MPs for a varying period. No one says 'forever'. But lots of people say, 'not too quickly'
An outrage that Faafoi can become a lobbiest so soon after leaving parliament. 5 year stand down in Canada. And I agree Belladonna with all you say
I'm not going to read about it on Farrar's site. (To protect myself from torrents of hypocrisy.)
Lobbying was a topic for discussion in Parliament in 2012.
"Lobbying Disclosure Bill fails but transparency encouraged
https://duncancotterill.com/publications/lobbying-disclosure-bill-fails-but-transparency-encouraged
"The Government Administration Committee (Committee) has recommended that the Lobbying Disclosure Bill (the Bill) not be passed."
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/bills-and-laws/bills-proposed-laws/document/00DBHOH_BILL11278_1/lobbying-disclosure-bill
Thanks for the replies and links. I am better informed; and I suspect Farrar was "fermenting stinky mischief" again . . .
One charge against Labour seems to be sticking. The meme about MIQ and Lock Downs has become "Authoritarian Bureaucrats", (who lack experience) and…
National has the high ground in not being "Tainted by covid" and selling an old chestnut of "More of your own money", ( they are wasting it).
Labour needs to start listing what is at risk, and countering any issues raised.
Labour needs to sell their vision using "influencers" the same way National has had NZers of prominence endorse their beliefs.
The pendulum has swung back, and there will be a tough three years ahead who ever wins, because a large group are going to be unhappy with either result.
Plus mental wellbeing has been impacted by the last two years of anxiety, and our fight or flight mechanism has been activated.
Many are trying to cope with cortisol grief and anger at mandates, mistaken beliefs, lack of socialisation, and disappointment in "the middle way."
So Jacinda Ardern has gone from hero to the butt of anger for many.
The constant “they are wasteful spenders” needs to be countered, by spending to support the disabled solo and young families even more.
Promising a meaningful tax review with ideas from consulted public think tanks( not a dry academic with no vision).
They have twelve months to sell a vision. It needs to be clearly expressed through a few real impactful strategic moves imo.
I suspect that Labour also needs to go after the bare-faced liars, Hosking and Whaleoil:
Robert Reich on the effect of suing Alex Jones and Fox News.
In the UK there are prohibitions on the conduct of MPs re lobbying
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmcode/1882/188206.htm#_idTextAnchor052
I am sure there will be similar for MPs in in the NZ parliament.
There are rules on how long the lobbying rules apply after leaving the UK parliament
Former Members
20.Former Members must abide by the restrictions of the lobbying rules for six months after their departure from the House in respect of any approach they make to Ministers, other Members or public officials. Former Members may not use their privileged parliamentary pass for the purposes of lobbying on the parliamentary estate.
Of course setting up a lobbying firm without actually doing any lobbying may not breach these rules. The rules are quite specific about what constitutes lobbying.
Lobbying has been around in the Westminster system for eons, before the beginning of the 18th Century in Britain.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2591264
That is not to say that we should not be aware of who and how our politicans are lobbied and possible impacts of this.
This is a good article.
https://journals.openedition.org/osb/409
With this long background 'shock, horror' at the fact of setting up a lobbying firm or of lobbying itself is perhaps a little naive?
We also need to examine appointments to Boards and the appointments of former politicians as Directors or Chairs to Boards that can reach into our everyday life. I think this is a greater threat.
Lobbying as a concept is bound to become more regulated with advice of lobbyists contacts with Govt Ministers ……not so the reach of former politicians with their political theories onto the boards of user groups.
While I'm not opposed to reviewing directorships or board memberships for ex-politicians – I question whether it really is a greater threat.
Both of those are known appointments. For example: we all knew that John Key was appointed to the board of Air New Zealand, and Katherine Rich was the CEO of the Food & Grocery Council. It makes it 'easier' to identify the need to prepare a counter-weight argument.
It's much harder with a lobbyist – when you have no idea who their clients are; so people with opposing views have no idea that they need to do their own political engagement.
Government is now so complex as the World is a lot more complex than only a generation or so ago, and any entity trying to get change or their voice heard really does need help from someone who knows how it works. The tricky bit is if the "voice "is for the greater good i.e others or personal gain. It is the latter that there must be constrictions on and for us to be wary of.
" The Reserve Bank is digging deeper into taxpayers pockets to increase the profits of investors and commercial bank shareholders with today’s lifting of the Official Cash Rate
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/10/06/reserve-bank-picks-taxpayers-pockets-to-boost-commercial-bank-profits-social-credit/
Credit agency pulls on big boy pants to remind Torys,that the days of disneyland economics are gone.
https://twitter.com/BloombergUK/status/1577782948023177218?cxt=HHwWhMC42erOtOUrAAAA
Three Waters
Is there a lot of noise or is there genuine concern?
It looks as though the local polling is lower than ever, yet apparently councils are telling us that their constituents are "up in arms" at the prospect of the theft of their precious water resources.
Seems, most people don't seem to care who runs their districts and are only concerned about their annual rates and water bills.
I venture that a lot of people are not fully aware yet – the "conversation" about 3 Waters/co-governance has not been fully instigated by the government yet – I wonder why???
You keep wondering because that’s your bliss. Meanwhile, submissions closed 22 July: https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/53SCFE_SCF_BILL_124081/water-services-entities-bill
I take it you made a submission, yes?
And what a farce that process was, you must be struggling to keep a straight face.
So you made a submission and are reporting on your experience, or your full of BS and are trying to wind people up.
If you can comment here on TS, which you obviously can, then you also can make a submission: https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/how-to-make-a-submission/
With what step of the submission process did you struggle most?