It's a strong decision supported 3-0 including by a conservative judge appointed by Bush.
"The judges concluded that longstanding doctrines of “immunity” for presidents from civil lawsuits related to their official duties did not extend to alleged criminal acts — and certainly not for a former president. Similarly, they concluded that the gravity of the specific charges against Trump weighed heavily against declaring him immune, even when balanced against concerns about the chilling effect it could have on future presidents."
The intellectual apologist for low levels of support to sole parents to give them an incentive to work, has no critical comment about the small MW increase, instead …
Also misleads in this statement as right wingers (right whingers) often do by not including the additonal help that someone on average wage can get and is further misleading by mentioning family tax credit which you cannot get on benefit and you can only get if working. It also fails to mention that family tax credit is simply topping up the low shitty wages that employers pay not the fact that there are fewer jobs in Northland and people have returned home as high rents have driven them out of larger urban areas due to areas where rents are cheaper.
In fact, for a sole parent with a couple of children, there is now no gap between income from a benefit (with all the add-ons like accommodation supplement and family tax credits) and an average paying job. By April last year the average benefit income for this family type was $1,057 weekly.
From IRD website.
When you cannot receive the minimum family tax credit
The minimum family tax credit is not available to families receiving the following:
an income-tested benefit
a parent's allowance
a children's pension from Veterans' Affairs New Zealand
That's what bugs me the most about WFF: it's nothing more than thinly disguised subsidy for business that enables them to keep wages down and let the taxpayer foot the bill.
It was Labour's biggest ever betrayal of the working and middle class. And has set any discussion about wages, taxation, and the welfare state back by decades. All any government of any stripe needs to do, is point to WFF and argue we already have a subsidy for working families.
All very reminiscent of the workhouse scene in Oliver Twist. We already have our gruel. Why should be able to ask for more?
What's worse is that the thresholds are set so that if you quality, you probably aren't earning enough to attract a subsidy large enough to make an appreciable difference.
And if you earn enough to make it worthwhile, you either don't qualify or your subsidy is abated away to basically nothing.
1.Labour faced the winter of discontent in 2000 for a modest reform of the ECA
2.Labour was facing in 2005 Don Brash kiwi or iwi and a large tax cut bribe. The WFF tax credits transferred the budget surplus money to families rather than an across the board tax cut unrelated to need.
The 2005-2008 government increased the MW by a dollar per annum for 3 years.
The post 2008 government left WFF untouched, it has won public acceptance – that there should be help to families within the tax system.
That leaves FPA/Industry Awards and more general working conditions – improvements related to parental leave, annual leave (4 weeks), sick leave and regulations related to contract work, casual work etc.
But I see that as Labour trying to solve a pressing political problem and heading off Don Brash (shudder) at the pass, rather than necessarily introducing visionary social policy.
If we can criticize our last 2 left-leaning governments on anything, it was their surrender to cautious, bland, but politically acceptable incrementalism. It's left (pun intended) the working and middle classes materially worse off while they tinker around the edges.
There was a time, not so long ago, where both of our main political parties actually stood for something.
100%. WFF is a subsidy from the public to private business, allowing them to pay their workers less than they need to survive, pocketing the savings as private profit.
(exception only when the employer is a public or charitable organisation)
A group of local sole parents here pretty much runs the kindy. I assuming only commercial state funded childcare while mum works is an acceptable form of early education in a right wing world – unless it is fundy home schooling.
Lindsay's been on this stuck-record crusade for years now. One has to wonder what made her so bitter and twisted towards sole parents, beside just warped ideology.
Yes, sure. David Seymour would have responded "Well, thanks for the 3 Ministers in Cabinet and a bunch of ACT policies, but it's not enough, so I'm off to support Chris Hipkins to form a government, because he'll give us more …"
[/heaviest sarc]
It wasn't a "sticking point", at all. Luxon did it because he wanted to.
In theory, yes. In reality, they were offered 3 Cabinet positions each, and plenty of policy gains.
If they'd walked away there would have been months before the GG would agree to an election (Seymour and Peters couldn't call one, they weren't PM). It could not have happened before this year.
What would Seymour's reward have been for forcing an election on this one issue? The voters in Epsom saying "sure, we care passionately about a bill that our party won't support into law anyway"?
I assume that National will replace Luxon before the election, the usual internal change to be presented as real change (Thatcher/Major, etc).
But then again, I assumed the same before the last election, and was proved wrong. The difference is that he was then only a potential failure, whereas now he's got the job and his limitations are painfully obvious.
Whether Labour can benefit is a whole other discussion, which is on hold until they decide on their leadership.
For a first term MP, to lead and unite the den of snakes that is the National caucus, defeat and overturn a majority Labour government, negotiate a coalition agreement with the biggest 3 egoes known to man (including Shane Jones) then not get booed at Waitangi, an argument can be made for his knighthood now.
Like Ardern, I think it is a grave mistake underestimating this person.
I fully agree, more time and attention is needed in where to now for Labour
Do you really think they are united gsays? I'll bet you a thousand pounds they don't last as a government for 3 years. (Joking-only Sunak would be daft enough to make such a bet)
The problem is that Luxon does not have political eloquence, guile or instincts. This will cause his popularity to plummet, public respect will evaporate within 12 months. It will be similar to the way Sunak has crashed in the UK.
Well done Mihi Forbes handling Shane Jones on RNZ yesterday.. what a slimy character… loved the part where she said “so we shouldn’t believe a word you say?!?!” He tried to weasel out of it, but those were his words…
26:12 SJ:This is electoral politics. You may hear from me, David Seymour, but the god of wind blows our words away. We're politicians, and in the heat of debate, rhetoric is deployed, whether it's left or right of politics. And we shouldn't actually cling and use those words as a justification for remaining angry.
26:36 MF:Are you saying that we shouldn't believe anything you say? Is that what you're saying? SJ:When you're in an election, you are fighting for every iota of attention. And for example, I said that you could kill every cow tomorrow and you wouldn't change the climate. Obviously, that's hyperbole […] And you know, we deploy rhetoric.
Climate change is here. And the people in Hawkes Bay are left to fend for themselves, reliant on community groups to clear silt.
We have farmers carrying about how tough it is as they help us miss our Paris obligations.
We have Simeon Brown focused on culture war, continuing the idea that water infrastructure can be done magically.
We have inflation and a housing market designed to benefit landlords. This is corruption, but the mild NZ type with no guns or dramatic confrontations, just fat cats and desperate people being told to be cheerful and resourceful.
Apart from feeding greedy landlords, the other priority seems to be working as hard as possible for the tobacco companies. And the car industry.
Business spokespeople think it is higher – … all that migrant labour without full-time work, looking for casual work/temp/contract/part-time work …not counted … and or
While the unemployment rise was less than economists were predicting, a business group suspects the picture is actually worse than the statistics show.
"These numbers are from the last three months of 2023. We know anecdotally that the economic situation has further deteriorated, and the real unemployment rate today is likely to be higher," Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) Head of Advocacy Alan McDonald said.
"The numbers released today don't feel right."
McDonald said the business association is increasingly hearing from its members that the economic environment is becoming more difficult, with their advice line seeing calls for restructuring and redundancy support surge by nearly 90 percent compared with this time last year.
Read my lips the OCR will not increase any further. They have already said this and I believe them. Inflation is tracking down – it is 4.7% after a 0.5% quarter. They are on track for their 3% target by the end of 2024.
Unemployment is probably over 4% now and then comes the public sector layoffs and the impact on consumer spending of rents going up faster than wages this year (and mortgage rate pressure still on-going) is on track for 5% by year end.
For mine Orr was lax in 2021 when it was known the economy was doing OK, the housing market overheated as a result (his excuse the Auckland lockdown). But it is about right for this OCR to be the peak.
But SPC, our inflation stayed lower than most countries early on. So Orr probably had it right.
The problem has been that it has been a little slower to fall than some countries recently, but as you say it is down to 4.7%. The predictions I have heard are that NZ will be close to the goal of 1-3% in a year's time-your 5% may be pessimistic.
CPI inflation was not a problem in 2021, but house prices were ridiculous. Action then would have limited inflation later.
Our inflation stayed higher because of things like the gib board market failure and the weather events (and Cook Strait inefficiency) and overdue wage increases (bus drivers etc).
The RB goal of inflation of 3% by the end of the year looks possible, a 0.5% quarter suggests 2%, but rents and maybe power will push it higher.
The conclusion should not be that Orr was correct at all. The OCR increases have in themselves driven up rental prices which form a significant component of the CPI forming a positive feedback loop. The alternative policy of simply leaving the OCR flat at nearly zero would just as likely have resulted in a flatter inflation spike with marginally better unemployment and GDP numbers coming out.
The issue here is we don't know that the OCR is negatively correlated with even house prices. It might be positively correlated by the mechanisms of accruing excess rental income to existing multiple property owners with equity (speeding up second purchases) or just by the mechanism of increasing saving returns (on future deposit funds). The way this actually works depends on the distribution of returns due to the price changes resulting from the OCR and how those sectors respond to that.
If or not there is a positive or negative correlation its certainly quite slight and impacts long after the OCR change (due to mortgage holders fixing for several years typically). A good general description of the relationship between the OCR and house prices seems to be the housing market seems to do what it wants and doesn't respond to the OCR much at all. In particular the bigger (percentage wise) changes in house prices circa 2007-2009 occurred while the OCR was up at 7,8,9%.
Also if 2021 is going to be a strong test of the RBNZ policy we need to take into account that the housing market was effectively shut down for a few months, and for well understood reasons savings rates went through the roof just prior. Once that was opened again of course there is a sudden flood of people back into the housing market then your pretty much guaranteed to get a short term price bidding war coming out from that.
I've actually given too much credence to the RBNZ being able to control excess house prices via its OCR policy choices. This is not however how the RBNZ thinks of it and they don't expect their OCR policy choices to impact first on the housing market or directly. Instead the OCR impacts are expected to flow into the economy via elevated unemployment levels.
As the RBNZ has explained in detail they expect to raise the NZ unemployment rate above their estimate of the NAIRU rate via the OCR and so to lower inflation which is therefore being driven up by a nascent wage-price spiral. They never got unemployment above the NAIRU before the inflation rate turned negative, demonstrating this was not a pertinent cause of inflation. Instead they only managed to slightly elevate unemployment and slightly lower GDP, pushing the impacts on inflation first onto marginal workers in NZ, and the wider low wage sector of the economy who have lower wage bargaining power. In their own terms the RBNZ policy was unnecessary and never worked as described (while having negative distributional impacts on the country).
The problem of this singular blunt method was noted years ago by the RB itself when Bollard asked for other tools – he mentioned a mortgage surtax to better target the housing market without impact on the dollar value.
The focus currently is deposit criteria and income related loan levels.
The OCR increases have in themselves driven up rental prices which form a significant component of the CPI forming a positive feedback loop.
The dominant factor is the market – supply and demand for housing. The recent migrant labour inflow …
The other factor is cost of ownership to cost of rent and that is influenced by the OCR and related mortgage cost.
A good general description of the relationship between the OCR and house prices seems to be the housing market seems to do what it wants and doesn't respond to the OCR much at all. In particular the bigger (percentage wise) changes in house prices circa 2007-2009 occurred while the OCR was up at 7,8,9%.
There is the issue of access to money and anticipation of CG. And fear of missing out if those in jobs get access to mortgages easily.
Whether or not you want to refer to the land lord class as 'the market', many land lords have clearly put their rental prices up as a result of the escalating costs of mortgage repayments. The RBNZ needs to operate within the existing framework of the NZ economy including how their monetary policy will impact the NZ economy through economic behaviors they don't control.
You appear to have a fundamental belief that the OCR is the primary factor and negatively correlated with the housing market, but there are some pretty obvious problems with this. First off, there is a clear positive correlation between real house price changes and the OCR level. The reason for this is that central banks have a long standing tendency to raise the cash rate in response to economic strength and lower it in response to economic weakness, but this lever just is very ineffective at having any impact on the housing market from there.
The next problem is access to credit is not institutionally limited by the OCR, in fact the OCR is the rate at which banks can always borrow the clearance funds to clear payments. As long as they can pass this on profitably because a borrower will (usually) repay their loan at a slightly above OCR interest rate then they can lend profitably. This is related to the reason that the RBNZ does not think of its OCR policy as targeting house prices in any specific way. This is not something the RBNZ can do much about actually, because if the lending is financially sound then its well outside the remit of the RBNZ to be rationing credit for some other policy reasons.
So as I suggested the housing market has the full capacity to determine its direction regardless of OCR policy. Many participants don't really let high interest rates stop them getting into the housing market, maybe because they still get more value from their capital gains than their interest payment costs, but that is the behavior.
This makes a lot of penalty costs come down to the question of if the housing market behavior is economically 'rational'. Those can be higher OCR costs, or CG taxes, or mortgage surcharges (all of which are forms of penalty costs to home ownership). These kinds of policies are however unlikely to work if the housing market doesn't start behaving rationally at some level of penalty costs, they simply become a cost of participation. On the other hand there are plenty of economic analysis describing that housing is already at a level of not pricing the risk in rationally anyway and has not been for some time. I don't really see why some of the proposed taxes are likely to bring an irrational market to its senses anyway. On the other hand as described in relation to the OCR many of these costs are sure to be passed on as rent increases. It was certainly true prior to about 2008 that a lot of land lords didn't worry too much about the rent, or running their property profitably as they were satisfied with the supposed capital gains, anyway.
The other thing about Waitangi is it is where Paheka talk to each other about who they are.
The announcement that Pakeha would be separated into two groups, those who like having Maori in NZ and those who…tolerate them at best. Almost a Jim Crow distinction.
Which is typical of their division between renter and owner, Wellington and elsewhere, (quietly) climate change affected property owners and the rest, smokers and non-smokers…
The bland great divider was at work, ignoring evidence in front of him as he let things happen and not wanting people to be jealous of his success.
But that’s the hidden substance, the disappearance of difference, the Americanisation of the political divide…just beginning here to the point there where Putin is seen as less extreme than Biden. Not opposition, but enemies.
Before Pakeha and Tauiwi all visited on the same day.
This is my reading of the government. For example Luxon was asked not to mention truancies and did, and has also fibbed about having to run ACT’s treaty principles bill.
His transport minister’s priority is not having Maori on signs.
And he was the least controversial.
You look at what’s been said by the government at Waitangi and before, and that they didn’t want the opposition there on the same day.
I’d accept the argument that the current Labour leadership is less pro-Maori than previous leaderships.
But not turning up as one group on one day is a division, requested by the government.
With Luxon's lack of personality and/or charm, his cue card way of speaking, his inability to persuade in a genuine way, leaves New Zealand with a "boring, bland, nothing" type of PM. He tried dressing up as a pirate and being photographed in matching family pyjamas for goodness sake! He is getting more cringeworthy by the week.
The matching nite-attire are cringeworthy…but I was more disturbed by the books on the shelf behind them…books as decoration…the only burr under that saddle is that they are upside down..(it's the little things..!)
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Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
In 2021 the Public Interest Journalism Fund launched the Te Rito Journalism project, a $2.4 million initiative to boost diversity in New Zealand’s newsrooms. The initiative was in response to the decades-long shortage of Māori and Pacific journalists in the media industry. It was billed as New Zealand’s ...
The Black Ferns Sevens appeared to be a mile behind Australia at the halfway point of the 2023-24 SVNS international circuit. Winless in three tournaments, a cup quarter-final exit in Perth was one of their worst results. To add insult to injury, talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini had been ruled out ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 10 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Successive governments have tried, and failed, to count Māori. But with the return of social investment, it’s more important than ever to get good data. The post Government looks for a better way to count Māori appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Experts in financing social investment initiatives say New Zealand is in a prime position to tackle social issues via a social investment approach The post What will Willis’ social investment fund look like? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist A former Tuvalu prime minister says while the New Zealand government’s oil and gas plans show it is concerned about its economy, he is more concerned about the livelihoods and survival of the Tuvalu people. Enele Sopoaga — who still serves as an MP ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Many people who follow federal budgets know about the magnificent “budget tree” in a parliamentary courtyard, which turns a glorious red in time for the May event. This week Treasurer Jim Chalmers posed by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Bennett, Professor of Music, Australian National University Richard P J Lambert/flickr, CC BY The future belongs to the analogue loyalists. Fuck digital. As a tsunami of CDs, DAT tapes and samplers swept the recording industry in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate professor, Music Industry, RMIT University This week American rapper Macklemore released a new track, Hind’s Hall, which has gained a lot of attention because of its explicitly political nature. The track is unapologetically pro-Palestine. It declares the artist’s ...
Explainer - The government from 2025 is mandating how state schools teach children to read. But what is structured literacy and how does it compare to other teaching methods? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danica Jenkins, Lecturer in European Studies, University of Sydney On a freezing spring night in March, Georgia’s national soccer team beat Greece in a nail-biter penalty shootout to qualify for the Euro 2024 championships. The atmosphere on the streets of the capital ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam G. Arian, Lecturer (Accounting & Finance), Australian Catholic University Loic Manegarium/Pexels Imagine every ton of carbon dioxide a company emits is slowly inflating its costs — not just in terms of potential fines or fees but in the capital it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Somwrita Sarkar, Senior Lecturer in Design and Computation, University of Sydney The “latte line” is the infamous, invisible boundary that divides Sydney between the more affluent north-east and the south-west. Historically, people north of the line enjoy better access to jobs and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dowdy, Principal Research Scientist in Extreme Weather, The University of Melbourne Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock In media articles about unprecedented flooding, you’ll often come across the statement that for every 1°C of warming, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This ...
RNZ Pacific Former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison, Fiji media are reporting. Bainimarama, alongside suspended Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho appeared in the High Court in Suva today for their sentencing hearing for a case involving their roles in blocking a police ...
Acting Chief Human Rights Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo says, “Addressing violence and abuse remains New Zealand’s most significant human rights issue affecting women. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Symons, Macquarie School of Social Sciences, Macquarie University Michael Schiffer / Unsplash Life has transformed our world over billions of years, turning a dead rock into the lush, fertile planet we know today. But human activity is currently transforming Earth ...
One woman’s quest to watch Challengers without ruining her body clock. Every Saturday morning, I wake up with a screaming demon inside my head urging me to “Do. Something. This. Weekend.” I run through the possibilities in my head in a defensive mental crouch, reminiscent of that one time I ...
The PSA is alarmed that ACC is proposing to shed 309 jobs including 29 dedicated injury prevention jobs at a time when the number and cost of injuries is rising. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Baker, Associate Professor in Human Geography, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images As local and regional councils struggle with inadequate infrastructure and unsustainable costs, New Zealand will be hearing a lot more about the potential solution offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Sacks, Professor of Public Health Policy, Deakin University Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock In recent years, there’s been increasinghype about the potential health risks associated with so-called “ultra-processed” foods. But new evidence published this week found not all “ultra-processed” foods are linked ...
Fears that New Zealand is relying too heavily on low-cost forests to absorb its carbon dioxide emissions have been reignited by a report from the OECD. ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed the total dollar savings target from public sector cuts has been met, but the reductions have not been felt evenly across public agencies. Government departments were told to make savings set at 6.5 percent or 7.5 percent where headcount had grown by more than ...
She doesn’t have a single kind word for me and it’s getting under my skin.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,I have two amazing friends that I absolutely adore. Grace (all names have been changed) and I lived together across 2023 and Olivia moved in with us this ...
Can Western science and Māori science work together to support our well-being? The Te Ohu Mō Papatūānuku (TOMP) Trials Project was a landmark case for healing the land and people with the guidance of Māori science and leadership. This is what happened when Papatūānuku (Earth) was contaminated by toxic discharge, ...
The District Plan is a blueprint for a bigger, better Wellington, through tens of thousands of new apartments and townhouses and a new approach to urban growth. Joel MacManus lays out the vision. The process of putting together Wellington’s new District Plan has been long and excruciating. As a city, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Williams Veazey, ARC DECRA Research Fellow, University of Sydney DavideAngelini/Shutterstock In the 2007 film The Bucket List Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play two main characters who respond to their terminal cancer diagnoses by rejecting experimental treatment. Instead, they go ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mohan Singh, Professor of Agri-Food Biotechnology, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences at the University of Melbourne., The University of Melbourne Tanja Esser/Shutterstock Australia’s vital agriculture sector will be hit hard by steadily rising global temperatures. Our climate is already ...
The Acumen Edelman Trust barometer reported that New Zealand’s political trust score now sits below the global average, a topic explored in a recent discussion paper by Maxim Institute. ...
Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Russel Norman says, "The Fast-Track Bill is the most damaging piece of environmental legislation any Government has introduced in living memory. People are angry, and it’s time to march." ...
The school lunches programme has been retained – and will be extended to some preschoolers. So how is it going to cost $107 million less? To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. The minister with many hats David Seymour wears a number of hats, but this week ...
“Show us the bird,” I found myself muttering at times while reading Hard by the Cloud House by Peter Walker, a deeply thoughtful, often hilarious, at times rambling – but somehow delightfully so – search for the story of a big bird. But not just any bird: the bird. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition DPVUE .images/Shutterstock Your home was probably designed for a climate that no longer exists. As long as humanity continues to burn fossil fuel, padding the heat-trapping blanket of gases in Earth’s atmosphere, the ...
A senior lawyer has filed a complaint about tikanga becoming a required law school module. Law lecturer Carwyn Jones explains what he’s getting wrong. “…the first law of Aotearoa, a law that served the needs of tangata whenua for a thousand years before the arrival of tauiwi.”– Ani Mikaere ...
In 2019, an Auckland woman woke up from surgery to find that she had undergone a treatment she didn’t consent to. She tells Alex Casey about her experience. From her very first period at the age of 14, Laura experienced “debilitating” levels of pain that forced her to withdraw from ...
Comment: Concerns about the state of the economy are creeping up to the top of firms’ list of challenges. That’s evident in both surveys and the tone of our recent client discussions. Skimming the past few weeks of eco-news, it’s not hard to see why. – Retail card spending fell ...
Opinion: Could former co-leader James Shaw still make a difference to working with National? The post How the Greens could be contenders appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: What if we got rid of our existing drug laws and replaced them with a new law that legalised and carefully regulated all psychoactive substances, from cannabis to MDMA, methamphetamine and LSD to magic mushrooms? And which also included legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine. “Wow,” you might ...
In the gloom following director-general Al Morrison’s job cuts in 2013, the Department of Conservation restructured its operations arm. Eleven conservancy districts were whittled into six new “conservation delivery” regions, under which the Rēkohu/Wharekauri/Chatham Islands area, comprising 40 scattered islands more than 800km east of Christchurch, was tethered to the ...
One of th e country’s top litigation lawyers says New Zealand is seeing a lift in court action between companies. Chapman Tripp partner Justin Graham, who oversees a team of around 80 litigation specialists, says the courts are now so log-jammed that it’s taking over two years to get cases ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel “through to 2050 and beyond”. In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuel’s ...
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-us-canada-68023315
The case is now likely to go to SCOTUS.
The politics
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67272569
It's a strong decision supported 3-0 including by a conservative judge appointed by Bush.
"The judges concluded that longstanding doctrines of “immunity” for presidents from civil lawsuits related to their official duties did not extend to alleged criminal acts — and certainly not for a former president. Similarly, they concluded that the gravity of the specific charges against Trump weighed heavily against declaring him immune, even when balanced against concerns about the chilling effect it could have on future presidents."
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/06/trump-is-not-immune-from-prosecution-for-bid-to-subvert-the-2020-election-appeals-court-rules-00139832
Funny how they've never had immunity before and never suffered from any "Pandora's" box backlash. Flawed argument from the orange criminal.
The intellectual apologist for low levels of support to sole parents to give them an incentive to work, has no critical comment about the small MW increase, instead …
https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2024/02/06/lindsay-mitchell-a-terrible-trend-in-desperate-need-of-turning/
Also misleads in this statement as right wingers (right whingers) often do by not including the additonal help that someone on average wage can get and is further misleading by mentioning family tax credit which you cannot get on benefit and you can only get if working. It also fails to mention that family tax credit is simply topping up the low shitty wages that employers pay not the fact that there are fewer jobs in Northland and people have returned home as high rents have driven them out of larger urban areas due to areas where rents are cheaper.
In fact, for a sole parent with a couple of children, there is now no gap between income from a benefit (with all the add-ons like accommodation supplement and family tax credits) and an average paying job. By April last year the average benefit income for this family type was $1,057 weekly.
From IRD website.
When you cannot receive the minimum family tax credit
The minimum family tax credit is not available to families receiving the following:
That's what bugs me the most about WFF: it's nothing more than thinly disguised subsidy for business that enables them to keep wages down and let the taxpayer foot the bill.
It was Labour's biggest ever betrayal of the working and middle class. And has set any discussion about wages, taxation, and the welfare state back by decades. All any government of any stripe needs to do, is point to WFF and argue we already have a subsidy for working families.
All very reminiscent of the workhouse scene in Oliver Twist. We already have our gruel. Why should be able to ask for more?
What's worse is that the thresholds are set so that if you quality, you probably aren't earning enough to attract a subsidy large enough to make an appreciable difference.
And if you earn enough to make it worthwhile, you either don't qualify or your subsidy is abated away to basically nothing.
I totally disagree.
1.Labour faced the winter of discontent in 2000 for a modest reform of the ECA
2.Labour was facing in 2005 Don Brash kiwi or iwi and a large tax cut bribe. The WFF tax credits transferred the budget surplus money to families rather than an across the board tax cut unrelated to need.
The 2005-2008 government increased the MW by a dollar per annum for 3 years.
The post 2008 government left WFF untouched, it has won public acceptance – that there should be help to families within the tax system.
That leaves FPA/Industry Awards and more general working conditions – improvements related to parental leave, annual leave (4 weeks), sick leave and regulations related to contract work, casual work etc.
All of those things are true.
But I see that as Labour trying to solve a pressing political problem and heading off Don Brash (shudder) at the pass, rather than necessarily introducing visionary social policy.
If we can criticize our last 2 left-leaning governments on anything, it was their surrender to cautious, bland, but politically acceptable incrementalism. It's left (pun intended) the working and middle classes materially worse off while they tinker around the edges.
There was a time, not so long ago, where both of our main political parties actually stood for something.
100%. WFF is a subsidy from the public to private business, allowing them to pay their workers less than they need to survive, pocketing the savings as private profit.
(exception only when the employer is a public or charitable organisation)
Minimum Family Tax Credit and Family Tax Credit aren't the same – beneficiaries receive Family Tax Credit but not the Minimum Family Tax Credit.
https://www.ird.govt.nz/working-for-families/about
Apparently bringing up children is not a job in itself…
A group of local sole parents here pretty much runs the kindy. I assuming only commercial state funded childcare while mum works is an acceptable form of early education in a right wing world – unless it is fundy home schooling.
Lindsay's been on this stuck-record crusade for years now. One has to wonder what made her so bitter and twisted towards sole parents, beside just warped ideology.
I'm not going to comment every time our embarrassing PM says something false or foolish, because I'd be doing it every day and we all have lives.
But this is an absolute whopper, on TV3 this morning, talking about the Treaty Principles Bill:
He said it was a "sticking point" for ACT and to form the Coalition Government he had to compromise.
Newshub political editor Jenna Lynch reacts to Luxon's Treaty Bill comments on AM | Newshub
Yes, sure. David Seymour would have responded "Well, thanks for the 3 Ministers in Cabinet and a bunch of ACT policies, but it's not enough, so I'm off to support Chris Hipkins to form a government, because he'll give us more …"
[/heaviest sarc]
It wasn't a "sticking point", at all. Luxon did it because he wanted to.
Yes, Observer, ration yourself to only major faux pas.
Which still means you'll be spending a considerable time commenting here.
As you say – 'sticking point' my arse. He could have called both Seymour's and Peter's bluffs – where else could they have gone. But he caved!
He could have called both Seymour's and Peter's bluffs – where else could they have gone.
The poll booths, presumably.
In theory, yes. In reality, they were offered 3 Cabinet positions each, and plenty of policy gains.
If they'd walked away there would have been months before the GG would agree to an election (Seymour and Peters couldn't call one, they weren't PM). It could not have happened before this year.
What would Seymour's reward have been for forcing an election on this one issue? The voters in Epsom saying "sure, we care passionately about a bill that our party won't support into law anyway"?
Of course not.
Effectively NZ has Liz Truss, a Dinosaur and a young Trump running the country. And they don't get on very well.
Less than one-term government?
Here's hoping.
Let's conspire on what we can do to assist this.
I assume that National will replace Luxon before the election, the usual internal change to be presented as real change (Thatcher/Major, etc).
But then again, I assumed the same before the last election, and was proved wrong. The difference is that he was then only a potential failure, whereas now he's got the job and his limitations are painfully obvious.
Whether Labour can benefit is a whole other discussion, which is on hold until they decide on their leadership.
Don't get me wrong, I am no fan of the man.
For a first term MP, to lead and unite the den of snakes that is the National caucus, defeat and overturn a majority Labour government, negotiate a coalition agreement with the biggest 3 egoes known to man (including Shane Jones) then not get booed at Waitangi, an argument can be made for his knighthood now.
Like Ardern, I think it is a grave mistake underestimating this person.
I fully agree, more time and attention is needed in where to now for Labour
You can't boo if you're asleep.
Do you really think they are united gsays? I'll bet you a thousand pounds they don't last as a government for 3 years. (Joking-only Sunak would be daft enough to make such a bet)
I do think they're united.
Not like a lefty, purity olympics type group. Looking for sell outs, traitors or splinters. Peoples Front of Judea anyone?
They've got a common goal, power. They will hold their nose, smile through gritted teeth, tolerate all sorts of shit and do what it takes to keep it.
With the lightening rod out the front drawing all yr ire, the rest of them can get on with their self serving ways.
The problem is that Luxon does not have political eloquence, guile or instincts. This will cause his popularity to plummet, public respect will evaporate within 12 months. It will be similar to the way Sunak has crashed in the UK.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/07/weak-weak-weak-needy-rish-makes-a-spectacle-of-himself-at-pmqs
"Whether Labour can benefit is a whole other discussion, which is on hold until they decide on their leadership."
And their policy.
And/or..luxon is just totally owned by seymour..(and/or peters..?)
The man can't be sleeping well..
For Weka.
On Saturday 3/2/24 you told me " I don’t like having to moderate on Saturdays. Take the weekend off – weka"
When is the weekend over?
sorry about that, no-one had checked the ban list for a while. You're out now.
Thank you.
Well done Mihi Forbes handling Shane Jones on RNZ yesterday.. what a slimy character… loved the part where she said “so we shouldn’t believe a word you say?!?!” He tried to weasel out of it, but those were his words…
I put together a transcript
Sorry, full name Shane ‘never won on his own steam’ Jones
Electorates know what he is.
He's also in the pocket of the fishing industry – embarrassing us and pissing off more civilised nations
Govt harpoons proposed South Pacific trawling restrictions – Newsroom
New Zealand leadership is pathetic.
Climate change is here. And the people in Hawkes Bay are left to fend for themselves, reliant on community groups to clear silt.
We have farmers carrying about how tough it is as they help us miss our Paris obligations.
We have Simeon Brown focused on culture war, continuing the idea that water infrastructure can be done magically.
We have inflation and a housing market designed to benefit landlords. This is corruption, but the mild NZ type with no guns or dramatic confrontations, just fat cats and desperate people being told to be cheerful and resourceful.
Apart from feeding greedy landlords, the other priority seems to be working as hard as possible for the tobacco companies. And the car industry.
also
fucking up public water supplies so they are easier to flog off
privatising hospitals
shitting on Te Tiriti
wrecking transport plans for Cook Strait and Auckland light rail
mining and oil prospecting on DOC preserves
The December quarter unemployment is 4%.
Business spokespeople think it is higher – … all that migrant labour without full-time work, looking for casual work/temp/contract/part-time work …not counted … and or
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2024/02/new-zealand-s-unemployment-rate-rises-to-4-percent.html
The Nats have been whinging for years that Adrian Orr at the Reserve Bank should be sacked because he lifted interest rates too fast and too high.
Now it turns out that he was right all along they have quietly stopped saying this.
Read my lips the OCR will not increase any further. They have already said this and I believe them. Inflation is tracking down – it is 4.7% after a 0.5% quarter. They are on track for their 3% target by the end of 2024.
Unemployment is probably over 4% now and then comes the public sector layoffs and the impact on consumer spending of rents going up faster than wages this year (and mortgage rate pressure still on-going) is on track for 5% by year end.
For mine Orr was lax in 2021 when it was known the economy was doing OK, the housing market overheated as a result (his excuse the Auckland lockdown). But it is about right for this OCR to be the peak.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/liam-dann-could-todays-low-unemp2loyment-number-mean-another-interest-rate-hike/FUYJDUWD55EKTF6BXANHU7RGDY/
But SPC, our inflation stayed lower than most countries early on. So Orr probably had it right.
The problem has been that it has been a little slower to fall than some countries recently, but as you say it is down to 4.7%. The predictions I have heard are that NZ will be close to the goal of 1-3% in a year's time-your 5% may be pessimistic.
CPI inflation was not a problem in 2021, but house prices were ridiculous. Action then would have limited inflation later.
Our inflation stayed higher because of things like the gib board market failure and the weather events (and Cook Strait inefficiency) and overdue wage increases (bus drivers etc).
The RB goal of inflation of 3% by the end of the year looks possible, a 0.5% quarter suggests 2%, but rents and maybe power will push it higher.
My pick is unemployment at 5% by the end of 2024.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/501422/stats-nz-unemployment-rises-to-3-point-9-percent
The conclusion should not be that Orr was correct at all. The OCR increases have in themselves driven up rental prices which form a significant component of the CPI forming a positive feedback loop. The alternative policy of simply leaving the OCR flat at nearly zero would just as likely have resulted in a flatter inflation spike with marginally better unemployment and GDP numbers coming out.
The issue here is we don't know that the OCR is negatively correlated with even house prices. It might be positively correlated by the mechanisms of accruing excess rental income to existing multiple property owners with equity (speeding up second purchases) or just by the mechanism of increasing saving returns (on future deposit funds). The way this actually works depends on the distribution of returns due to the price changes resulting from the OCR and how those sectors respond to that.
If or not there is a positive or negative correlation its certainly quite slight and impacts long after the OCR change (due to mortgage holders fixing for several years typically). A good general description of the relationship between the OCR and house prices seems to be the housing market seems to do what it wants and doesn't respond to the OCR much at all. In particular the bigger (percentage wise) changes in house prices circa 2007-2009 occurred while the OCR was up at 7,8,9%.
Also if 2021 is going to be a strong test of the RBNZ policy we need to take into account that the housing market was effectively shut down for a few months, and for well understood reasons savings rates went through the roof just prior. Once that was opened again of course there is a sudden flood of people back into the housing market then your pretty much guaranteed to get a short term price bidding war coming out from that.
I've actually given too much credence to the RBNZ being able to control excess house prices via its OCR policy choices. This is not however how the RBNZ thinks of it and they don't expect their OCR policy choices to impact first on the housing market or directly. Instead the OCR impacts are expected to flow into the economy via elevated unemployment levels.
As the RBNZ has explained in detail they expect to raise the NZ unemployment rate above their estimate of the NAIRU rate via the OCR and so to lower inflation which is therefore being driven up by a nascent wage-price spiral. They never got unemployment above the NAIRU before the inflation rate turned negative, demonstrating this was not a pertinent cause of inflation. Instead they only managed to slightly elevate unemployment and slightly lower GDP, pushing the impacts on inflation first onto marginal workers in NZ, and the wider low wage sector of the economy who have lower wage bargaining power. In their own terms the RBNZ policy was unnecessary and never worked as described (while having negative distributional impacts on the country).
The problem of this singular blunt method was noted years ago by the RB itself when Bollard asked for other tools – he mentioned a mortgage surtax to better target the housing market without impact on the dollar value.
The focus currently is deposit criteria and income related loan levels.
The dominant factor is the market – supply and demand for housing. The recent migrant labour inflow …
The other factor is cost of ownership to cost of rent and that is influenced by the OCR and related mortgage cost.
There is the issue of access to money and anticipation of CG. And fear of missing out if those in jobs get access to mortgages easily.
Q4 2001 $61,000
Q2 2007 peak $114,000
Q4 2008 $98,000
Q4 2009 $102,000
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/QNZR628BIS
Of course some markets were different, where expectation of CG was a factor.
For example 2002-2004 50% gains in some markets and then 100% again 2004-2007 (Auckland and Wellington). But even these flatlined 2007-2009.
Whether or not you want to refer to the land lord class as 'the market', many land lords have clearly put their rental prices up as a result of the escalating costs of mortgage repayments. The RBNZ needs to operate within the existing framework of the NZ economy including how their monetary policy will impact the NZ economy through economic behaviors they don't control.
You appear to have a fundamental belief that the OCR is the primary factor and negatively correlated with the housing market, but there are some pretty obvious problems with this. First off, there is a clear positive correlation between real house price changes and the OCR level. The reason for this is that central banks have a long standing tendency to raise the cash rate in response to economic strength and lower it in response to economic weakness, but this lever just is very ineffective at having any impact on the housing market from there.
The next problem is access to credit is not institutionally limited by the OCR, in fact the OCR is the rate at which banks can always borrow the clearance funds to clear payments. As long as they can pass this on profitably because a borrower will (usually) repay their loan at a slightly above OCR interest rate then they can lend profitably. This is related to the reason that the RBNZ does not think of its OCR policy as targeting house prices in any specific way. This is not something the RBNZ can do much about actually, because if the lending is financially sound then its well outside the remit of the RBNZ to be rationing credit for some other policy reasons.
So as I suggested the housing market has the full capacity to determine its direction regardless of OCR policy. Many participants don't really let high interest rates stop them getting into the housing market, maybe because they still get more value from their capital gains than their interest payment costs, but that is the behavior.
This makes a lot of penalty costs come down to the question of if the housing market behavior is economically 'rational'. Those can be higher OCR costs, or CG taxes, or mortgage surcharges (all of which are forms of penalty costs to home ownership). These kinds of policies are however unlikely to work if the housing market doesn't start behaving rationally at some level of penalty costs, they simply become a cost of participation. On the other hand there are plenty of economic analysis describing that housing is already at a level of not pricing the risk in rationally anyway and has not been for some time. I don't really see why some of the proposed taxes are likely to bring an irrational market to its senses anyway. On the other hand as described in relation to the OCR many of these costs are sure to be passed on as rent increases. It was certainly true prior to about 2008 that a lot of land lords didn't worry too much about the rent, or running their property profitably as they were satisfied with the supposed capital gains, anyway.
The other thing about Waitangi is it is where Paheka talk to each other about who they are.
The announcement that Pakeha would be separated into two groups, those who like having Maori in NZ and those who…tolerate them at best. Almost a Jim Crow distinction.
Which is typical of their division between renter and owner, Wellington and elsewhere, (quietly) climate change affected property owners and the rest, smokers and non-smokers…
The bland great divider was at work, ignoring evidence in front of him as he let things happen and not wanting people to be jealous of his success.
But that’s the hidden substance, the disappearance of difference, the Americanisation of the political divide…just beginning here to the point there where Putin is seen as less extreme than Biden. Not opposition, but enemies.
who said that?
Before Pakeha and Tauiwi all visited on the same day.
This is my reading of the government. For example Luxon was asked not to mention truancies and did, and has also fibbed about having to run ACT’s treaty principles bill.
His transport minister’s priority is not having Maori on signs.
And he was the least controversial.
You look at what’s been said by the government at Waitangi and before, and that they didn’t want the opposition there on the same day.
I’d accept the argument that the current Labour leadership is less pro-Maori than previous leaderships.
But not turning up as one group on one day is a division, requested by the government.
With Luxon's lack of personality and/or charm, his cue card way of speaking, his inability to persuade in a genuine way, leaves New Zealand with a "boring, bland, nothing" type of PM. He tried dressing up as a pirate and being photographed in matching family pyjamas for goodness sake! He is getting more cringeworthy by the week.
I googled it..luxon in pyjamas…
The matching nite-attire are cringeworthy…but I was more disturbed by the books on the shelf behind them…books as decoration…the only burr under that saddle is that they are upside down..(it's the little things..!)